The future is collaborative.
If higher productivity, innovation and creating a human-centered work culture are your goals,
Radical Collaboration is the way to get you there.
In today’s world of increasing complexity and constant change, collaboration skills are no longer just a nice-to-have.
Research shows us over and over again that having collaboration ingrained in your company’s culture is a crucial factor for productivity. What’s more, a collaborative culture attracts talent and keeps team members engaged.
Before we dive into what Radical Collaboration is and how it can help you build the kind of human-centered, innovation-driven culture you envision, let’s take a look at what research has to say about collaboration.
What is Radical Collaboration?
Radical Collaboration is an approach to developing people, teams, and organizations by building high-trust relationships in order to improve efficiency, productivity, innovation, and agility.
It helps leaders create the kind of transparent, open, and people-centric culture that makes people love showing up for work, without sacrificing the company’s ability to make an impact, adapt quickly, and hold people accountable.
Benefits of a radically collaborative culture
- Increased innovation capacity
- An organization that is better equipped to handle sudden change
- Faster decision-making
- Higher productivity and efficiency in key areas
- Transparency and knowledge sharing
- Greater ownership and accountability
- Higher employee engagement and retention rates
- Improved well-being of employees
- Attracting top talent
Radical Collaboration is for you if...
- You want to build human-centered, innovative, agile organizations and teams.
- You want to build a culture that is respectful and pays attention to people while challenging them and holding them accountable at the same time.
- You are a leader and you want to understand how you can apply a leadership style that supports collaboration and enables self-management and high-accountability in your teams.
- You work remotely or in a hybrid way and want to understand how to best cultivate a culture of collaboration within these setups.
- You want to improve your teams’ ability to give and receive direct feedback.
- You work in a diverse environment where different interests and opinions may create tension and you want to be able to handle these differences in a way that supports the relationships between people instead of undermining it.
- You sense that there are hidden conflicts, a lack of transparency in your organization, or that people are afraid to speak up.
- You are satisfied with how your team is collaborating internally, but there are some challenges around effectively communicating with clients or suppliers.
- You’ve put a lot of effort into implementing collaboration tools and processes, but you are not seeing the results you want.
Collaboration happens in every organization.But not every organization has a collaborative culture.
The most common barriers to true collaboration
1. You have a culture that is “too nice”
Companies that genuinely care about their employees have many advantages over those who don’t. But in trying to build a culture where everyone knows they are appreciated, founders and leaders often end up unconsciously fostering an environment where people feel bad about or outright avoid giving direct feedback, raising difficult issues, or pushing back against demanding clients for fear of damaging the relationships.
An inability to criticize constructively, challenge people, and hold them accountable stops innovation in its tracks. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth”, and it’s created by transforming your nice culture into a respectful AND honest one.
2. Your systems and processes don't support collaboration
The people in your organization may be extremely skillful when it comes to collaboration, but it won’t make much of a difference if the environment they operate in isn’t designed in such a way that they can put those skills to use.
For example, when people are encouraged to share openly and give tough feedback to others, leadership included, yet are regularly passed over for promotions because they are "being difficult". Sadly, this happens more often than managers would like to admit.
Or consider this: if someone's entire salary or annual bonus is based on the work they produce themselves and has nothing to do with how they support other people, it’s no wonder self-interest and self-preservation can override collaboration.
3. Your systems and processes are aimed at supporting collaboration, yet they don't drive results
Frameworks like design thinking, agile ways of working, the “fail quickly and learn from our mistakes” mentality, and using the best collaboration software are all amazing at facilitating collaboration, yet they often don't bring the results leaders expect.
You could run a design sprint or a retro meeting for your team, but they will never be as effective as they could be if people are afraid to share their opinions, to confront each other, to voice half-formed, “crazy” ideas, or to try something new. It’s not the process itself that enables collaboration, but the collective intelligence of your people at their best.
In my experience, this is also the main reason many companies struggle with making agile transformations work. It’s not enough to put the systems in place. You need to teach people the skills that will make the systems work.
4. Your skills development doesn’t support real behaviour change
Organizing communication skills trainings for the 1000th time and still running into the same problems over and over again can make even the most benevolent leader pretty damn frustrated. A lack of results makes everyone question the effectiveness of these training programs.
Here’s the thing, though. Most trainings are ineffective because they teach people about tools, but not about real self-awareness. And without a deeper understanding of themselves, people will continue to respond to the same triggers and repeat the same unhelpful behavioural patterns. For example, even though they learn how to communicate in an assertive way, when their buttons are being pushed in a stressful situation, they will not be able to put these skills to use.
Radical Collaboration programs are effective because they focus on the human elements that make communication techniques work. After just a single day of a workshop, your teams will see results.
”You can't compete externally, if you can't first collaborate internally.”
— Jim Tamm, Senior Judge and Radical Collaboration co-founder
How can Radical Collaboration help?
If some of the situations described above feel familiar, collaboration in your organization might not be as effective as it could be.
Radical Collaboration helps you identify the root cause of the issue and develop and maintain a culture where you can harness the full power of collaboration.
The corporate world often sees culture as something fluffy, something that is hard to put your finger on. However, what is very much tangible and has been researched for 60+ years is how the type of culture within an organization influences performance.
The organizations that are best at collaboration have a type of culture we call Green Zone.
Green Zone cultures are...
…collaborative, improvement-oriented cultures where people trust each other and the organization, and feel safe enough to openly share, take calculated risks, and own up to their mistakes.
There is an atmosphere of mutual support, curiosity, and connection, and when conflict inevitably arises, people are able to handle it without damaging relationships and setting back productivity.
People are passionate about their work. The environment is significantly more creative.
Red Zone cultures are the opposite
They have a poor level of collaboration. These are hostile, fear-based places.
People rarely take personal responsibility, they tend to put the blame on others and are internally competitive instead of working together for a common goal.
It doesn’t feel like a very safe environment for most people to try new ideas.
Work is more painful than pleasurable so people need to be externally motivated.
The data is very clear on the relationship between collaboration skills and long-term profitability.
A study by John Kotter and James Heskett, done over an 11-year time period with more than 200 companies, shows that Green Zone cultures substantially outperform the more adversarial Red Zone cultures.
The main goal of Radical Collaboration is to give organizations and teams a roadmap for building Green Zone cultures so they can increase trust, collaboration, and engagement both internally and with their clients.
We firmly believe that Radical Collaboration is the most effective organizational development tool you will find.
Once people learn how to confront each other productively and give constructive feedback, issues will get flagged more quickly, enabling the organization as a whole to become more agile and constantly improve their processes, collaboration, and ways of working.
Being in the Green Zone is more difficult than you would think
When the founders of Radical Collaboration first started their program, they focused only on Red Zone and Green Zone. But more and more people commented:
“We must be in the Greeen Zone because we never fight.”
Often, that’s not the case at all. A conflict avoidant tendency is just another, more passive shade of Red Zone.
These are called Pink Zone cultures...
…and their number is increasing, probably because Red Zone behaviour is less and less tolerated and is seen as politically incorrect and less effective. In Pink Zone cultures, however, problems still don’t get solved openly, but are instead swept under the rug.
People are still afraid to take a stand, to disagree, to draw clear lines of what’s OK and what’s not OK. They often go along to get along and pretend to agree, but then simply don’t follow through on agreements. They don’t talk about conflicts directly with others, but rather behind each other’s backs.
Many young, ambitious, and innovative organizations start out with the genuine desire of building Green Zone cultures. However, even with the right intention and an inspiring vision, creating a truly collaborative culture can be difficult.
You as a leader might think you are definitely in the Green Zone. However, let me remind you that some of the main characteristics of the Pink Zone are hidden conflicts, fear of confrontation, and a lack of openness. Sometimes the Pink Zone doesn’t manifest as a result of problems, but rather due to a loss of creative and innovative potential when people don’t speak up. And because things are under the surface, you might not even be aware this is happening.
Signs your team or organization might be stuck in the Pink Zone
- Team members have trouble with giving direct feedback to each other. As a leader, you are not receiving any constructive criticism, or literally have to drag it out of people.
- You feel like you have to deal with the same problems over and over again.
- People seem to always agree with you and/or each other in meetings and rarely voice their concerns openly. Sometimes you feel like you aren’t sure what they really think.
- People always come back to the same old, tested solutions and you don’t hear enough new, wild, innovative ideas.
- People are reluctant to take on new challenges.
- You hear a lot of complaining about the behaviour of clients, partners, or suppliers.
- Intellectually stimulating debates between teams are rare.
- You are not satisfied with the level of self-management and ownership in the organization.
- You rarely have to deal with internal conflicts, but when they arise, people tend to take them personally or try to avoid them completely.
- Important issues don’t get flagged in time.
If you recognize at least one of these situations, you probably have some Pink Zone tendencies in your culture. When leaders have the vision of building an amazing culture, problems usually stem not from a lack of intention, but from people missing some essential skills necessary for true collaboration.
Radical Collaboration tools can help identify what your people need to move into the Green Zone so that you can address those specific issues with your organizational development programs.
Take a look at our solutions and let's transform your organization into a creatively collaborative one!
Outcomes of Radical Collaboration for...
Individuals
- Knowledge about what creates conflict and how to prevent it
- Increased awareness of your own attitude in conflict situations
- Learning how to manage your emotions when you or the other party “get tough”
- Learning how to communicate and listen more effectively
- An opportunity to enhance your reputation, become more influential and inspiring
- Feeling centered, confident, and personally powerful in relationships
- Protecting your interest while maintaining great relationships
- Gaining confidence in taking on new challenges
Teams
- Higher levels of creativity
- More productive meetings
- Open sharing of ideas
- A chance to learn from each other’s perspectives
- Improved group dynamics and stronger social connections
- Faster decision-making and problem-solving by building on each other’s expertise
- Better alignment on goals and the roles of team members in achieving them
Organizations
- Continuous organizational development becomes the norm for everyone as people and teams openly tackle issues
- Replacing old business paradigms with new, more efficient ways of working
- Increased capacity to adapt to change and navigate complex situations by having aligned teams
- As the level of openness increases, so does a sense of belonging to the organization
- An increased sense of agency leads to higher engagement levels, even when working remotely
- Less tension caused by interpersonal issues with colleagues and clients
- Faster decision-making and more courageous conversations to challenge the status quo and continuously innovate
- More effective partnerships with clients
Radical Collaboration Solutions
Radical Collaboration provides well-tested, effective, and measurable tools that can generate lasting benefits for employees, teams, and your organization as a whole by creating a climate of trust, innovation, well-being, and growth.
Customized solutions and consultancy
Bring learning and development programs and initiatives to life, designed to create your own flavor of a radically collaborative culture.
Collaborative Skills Climate Survey
Take a critical and objective look at the current levels of collaboration in your organization.
3-day Radical Collaboration workshop
Master the key skills and mindsets essential for collaboration and see results from day one.
Customized solutions and consultancy
We design and deliver customized learning and development programs and initiatives aimed at developing a culture of Radical Collaboration.
Examples of such initiatives include:
- Facilitated workshops aimed at improving collaboration between teams
- Leadership development programs
- Customized skill development of client facing colleagues
- Organizational design initiatives
- Internal communication advisory
Collaborative Skills Climate Survey
To measure is to be able to control. Before you can start improving, it’s critical to understand where your organization is at the moment. The instrument we use in Radical Collaboration is called the TLT Collaborative Skills Climate Survey (CSCS), and it’s designed to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of collaborative skills within your organization.
The survey measures the state of collaboration in your culture by asking employees to reflect on how they experience working within the company as a whole. By all employees filling out a 20-minute survey, we can draw insights on areas for development for the whole organization as well as for different departments.
These insights help organizations plan culture initiatives, development programs, internal communications, and training programs for their people. The CSCS is also a great tool to measure the impact of your training programs aimed at developing collaboration skills.
3-day Radical Collaboration workshop
Our classic format of developing collaboration skills is a 3-day intensive workshop that delivers immediate results by equipping participants with knowledge and tools they can start applying from the very first day.
The workshop aims to build up the 5 skills that Jim Tamm and Ron Luyet, the founders of Radical Collaboration, identified as essential for creating collaborative environments based on research and more than 30 years of experience. These are a combination of specific competencies and attitudes people can learn in a short period of time that will have an immediate impact within the organization.
The training provides guidance through a variety of teaching strategies such as brief lectures, interactive exercises, guided imagery, self-assessment checklists, small group planning sessions, and individualized action planning. Participants will learn how subtle differences in their fundamental approach to problem-solving can support their collaborative efforts.
The 5 skills are:
1. Collaborative intention: staying non-defensive; deeply committing to the success of relationships
2. Openness: being open and honest; creating an environment where people feel comfortable enough to raise difficult issues, share concerns, and mutually seek solutions
3. Accountability: taking personal responsibility for your actions and the consequences those actions have on others; looking for solutions instead of placing blame on others
4. Self-awareness and awareness of others: committing to knowing yourself and being willing to explore difficult interpersonal issues; seeking to understand the concerns, intentions, and motivations of others
5. Negotiation and problem-solving: using problem-solving techniques to promote an atmosphere of collaboration in a way that supports rather than undermines the relationship; avoiding practices that encourage unconscious competition among people
The 3-day workshop is beneficial for everybody across all ages, professional contexts, and social backgrounds. It helps participants to:
Overcome defensiveness and support others to reduce their defensiveness.
Get their interests met in negotiations and conflict resolutions.
Improve listening skills and create a safe place to work on difficult issues.
Develop skills in establishing and solidifying partnerships and alliances based on truthfulness.
Gain personal insights into attitudes and behaviours for conflict situations.
Build and maintain long-term climates of trust.
Radical Collaborationopen workshop24-26 NovemberBudapest
Participation fee: 1000 EUR
The price includes all workshop materials and the venue (excluding accomodation).
Meet your trainer
Hi! I’m Kata Mórocz. An organizational developer, a team coach, and a soft skill trainer.
My areas of expertise are collaboration, culture building, internal communication, new ways of working, and remote teamwork.
I work with innovative, fast-growing, small to mid-sized companies to help them create truly creative and radically collaborative working cultures to scale their impact.
I attended a Radical Collaboration workshop delivered by Jim Tamm (Radical Collaboration co-founder) and Yuri Morgado in Cuernavaca, Mexico. I completed my Radical Collaboration Trainer Certification program in Belgium, led by Jim Tamm and Malou Laureys.