Speak Your Piece: Passion, Cooperation
Pick a rural issue and get busy – there’s plenty to do.
Pick a rural issue and get busy – there’s plenty to do.
 they were willing to start learning.</p> <p>Today the idea of collaboration has become fashionable. In many areas it has become a requirement for funding or moving an initiative forward. And that is good. But it also means we have to be even more deliberate in conversations or planning. Too many are using the word without much appreciation or commitment to what it means in terms of behaving differently.</p> <p>Collaboration can co-exist with competition and can be part of traditional organizational structures. But it is a way of working that is different and is not a way that many of us existing leaders were trained in or educated about. For my part, here is are some of the characteristics I look for as signs of effective collaboration:</p> <ul> <li>There is an understanding that collaboration is not easy, as demonstrated by the current state of affairs in most State capitals and in particular Washington. To be clear, this isn’t a new problem, it’s just recycled.</li> <li>The work follows a mutually agreed to strategic plan not dominated by one entity.</li> <li>The strategies use both art and science to employ political, economic and social forces to a common advantage.</li> <li>Partners listen as allies–they work to understand before evaluating. I find myself strongly agreeing with an unexpected source, Newt Gingrich, a former Republican House Speaker. “Look to work with people willing to say ‘Yes, if …’ rather than ‘No, because…’ ”</li> </ul> <p>We will achieve our vision for a healthy rural America if we use our passion to advocate for it and do the hard work of working together.</p> <p><em>Tim Size is executive director of the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative in Sauk City.</em></p> </div>
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