A Collaborative is Time Well Spent and Time Well Invested

Dear Friends,

Many consultancies give lip service to collaboration. They talk about how they work with their clients to hear their needs and then provide guidance, research, or implementation to affect the company’s strategy. But do they really collaborate with you?

For last 19 and half years, I’ve been leading various versions of Collaboratives. I was invited by my first real client in 2005 to lead research for their ‘Collaborative.’ And I’ve been leading Collaboratives ever since. A Collaborative is a custom research, guidance, and thought leadership program where a group of non-competing companies meet together and work to solve common challenges. Though the word has become more popular recently, I know of no other company who has the expertise and methodology to guide 12 non-competing companies of different sizes and purposes through a yearlong process of discovery, co-creation, primary research, and solutioning.

The Stone Mantel Experience Strategy Collaboratives are far superior to any conference, any omnibus research, or any other program for upskilling leaders.

I share this with you because I’m just coming off the seasonal high I get each year, when our new group of Collaborative members meet. It’s September, which means school has started, the leaves will change colors, and the latest Collaborative by Stone Mantel will start. This year we met in Nashville, Tennessee. During a half-day, full day, half-day series of sessions, we introduced the new members to each other, built teams, studied past research, ideated about the big challenges these companies face and planned the first field study. Oh, and we had a little fun along the way.

(See if you can spot the grammy award winner and world renown songwriter we worked with to create a ‘time well spent’ song! It was such a cool experience! In just two hours we wrote the lyrics, developed the melody, and recorded the song. And we sounded great!)

The group gelled, the companies pushed their thinking, and each person left personally enriched.

This year we are studying value creation. We are focused on next generation engagement models, transformational experiences, technology, and channel strategy. We want to understand how business models will create value in the near future, especially given the fact that most AI tools will commoditize business models. We plan to set the direction for experience strategy over the next five years.

About two-thirds of the members of the Collaboratives were present in Nashville. And as you can see here, the working environment was ideal. I could not be prouder of the experience strategists who participated. They worked hard. They contributed. They represented their companies well. I’m also very proud of our Stone Mantel team: Mary Putman, Aransas Savas, Jaclyn DuPont, and holding up the virtual end of the meeting, Makenzie Smith.

The time that experience strategists invest into the Collaboratives is paid back with significant dividends. It is one of the best investments your company can make for the company, the experience disciplines in your company, and the individuals who participate.

Our next Summit will be hosted by the Sierra Club in November. Join us there!