Q&A with Mike Leavitt and Rich McKeown, authors of Finding Allies, Building Alliances

Michael O. Leavitt

Rich McKeown

Why is collaboration important, especially with competitors?

Simply put, for example, an online network is faster, more versatile, flexible, and responsive than a mainframe (something the information services industry has known for quite some time). Collaborative alliances—or networks—provide these same advantages and are able to solve challenging problems that individual entities alone cannot address. Competing banks (the multinational Visa network and multibank ATMs), airlines (Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and OneWorld), and even branches of the military now realize that creating a network allows a synergy of resources—from financial to intellectual—that can deal effectively with a wide range of issues confounding organizations today. Collaboration is the new frontier of human productivity.

Having worked in government, health care, education, and the corporate sector, have you found any one type of organization more or less collaborative? What are the unique challenges to creating alliances in different industries or types of organizations?

It all boils down to people, and their personal desire and ability to collaborate. Nearly every organization has the infrastructure and technology that permit collaboration. When collaborations fall apart or never get off the ground, it's nearly always a people problem: some people collaborate well while others don't. However, most people can become more effective at collaboration with deliberate practice and focus.

Bureaucracy, regulation, tradition, and turf are four common barriers to creating an effective alliance. These must be dealt with head-on in order for a collaboration to succeed. It takes a perceptive and committed alliance leader to do more than issue orders and chair meetings. She or he must be a facilitator, communicator, strategist, and motivator to coax, flatter, and nudge participants in executing a successful collaborative process.

A thought about the word "collaboration." It is used frequently and can mean anything from talking to partnering. Our definition is based on the concept of "value alliances." This is a deliberate process as opposed to an ad hoc or informal effort. In such a network, the pursuit of value is the purpose, alliance is the platform, and collaboration is the means.

The eight elements at the heart of the book are commonalities in alliances that succeeded. When a collaborative effort lacked even one of those factors, it usually failed.

What's the one thing you learned about creating alliances that you wish you'd known sooner?

Good collaboration is not a casual undertaking. It requires effort, leadership, structure, process, commitment, and the consistent application of the eight elements. Like most other skills, you become a better collaborator with practice, experience, and patience.

“Leavitt... and McKeown show readers how to forge connections that solve problems and lead to new opportunities. Their eight strategies apply to both individuals and organizations. Finding Allies, Building Alliances is for any business leader who has ever felt like an island, or for those who have 500 LinkedIn connections but don't know whom to turn to with a problem.”
―Beth Cabrera, T+D Magazine

“I've seen first-hand how collaboration is crucial to success―not only within an organization, but between multiple organizations. In Finding Allies, Building Alliances, Leavitt and McKeown provide a clear, simple roadmap for how to approach collaboration and the necessary elements for groups and people working together to succeed.”
―Eric Schmidt, chairman, Google

“Highly collaborative teams with a common challenge, committed leadership, and a clearly defined purpose are essential to creating solutions in an increasingly chaotic world. Governor Mike Leavitt and and RichMcKeown have led, facilitated, and participated in many successful collaborations―and a few less-than-successful ones―and have written a clear, concise roadmap to building the best. Finding Allies, Building Alliances is for anyone who wants to be successful in today’s complex, connected global economy.”
―George Halvorson, chairman and CEO, Kaiser Permanente

“As companies globalize, reaching across national, cultural, and technological borders, Governor Leavitt and Rich McKeown have developed a realistic and applicable blueprint for building and harnessing the value of collaborative alliances. As Walgreens itself establishes a global pharmacy-led health and wellbeing enterprise, Finding Allies, Building Alliances could not be more timely―or eye-opening.”
―Gregory D. Wasson, president and CEO, Walgreen Co.

“I wish all our leaders in and out of Washington would read Finding Allies, Building Alliances. Leading is a team sport and Governor Leavitt and McKeown are masters at telling us how to do it.”
―Donna E. Shalala, president, University of Miami, and former secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

“In today’s highly matrixed organizations, the only way to drive transformative change is to build the right alliances, both internally and externally. In Finding Allies, Building Alliances,Mike Leavitt and Rich McKeown show you how to make it happen.
―Mark T. Bertolini, chairman, CEO, and president, Aetna

“Given their remarkable success as leaders in both business and government, Mike Leavitt and Rich McKeown have written the ultimate how-to on collaborative leading in business, government, and virtually any organization. In these transformational times, when organizational challenges have never been greater, bringing and keeping people together has never been more critical. The eight elements described in Finding Allies, Building Alliances create a playbook for success for every reader. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.”
―Senator Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader

“I observed firsthand Mike Leavitt's skill at bringing people together and building coalitions in government, politics, and international affairs. Finding Allies, Building Alliances explains how successful managers cooperate to achieve goals and get things done in an environment brimming with complexity, uncertainty, and a multiplicity of actors.”
―Robert B. Zoellick, Former President of the World Bank Group, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, US Trade Representative

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Mike Leavitt and Rich McKeown and see first-hand their skills as problem solvers that made them so effective at finding solutions on the ground in China. Through vivid examples here, he lays out how to get individuals with seemingly competing interests to work together towards solving a shared problem.”
―Henry M. Paulson, Jr., chairman, The Paulson Institute, and former secretary, U.S. Department of Treasury

“In our increasingly interconnected world, organizations face a growing number of challenges―disruptive technologies, regulatory reform, environmental issues―they cannot tackle in isolation. In Finding Allies, Building Alliances, Leavitt and McKeown advocate for formal, process-driven collaborations between organizations facing collective problems, explicitly designed to achieve an outcome with value for each of them. Great collaborations cannot be undertaken casually―they require effort, leadership, structure, process, and commitment. Finding Allies, Building Alliances offers a unique and practical approach to co-opetition in the 21st century.”
―Craig Mundie, senior advisor to the CEO, Microsoft Corporation

“In Finding Allies, Building Alliances, Leavitt and McKeown lay out practical steps any leader can follow to convene collaborators, gain consensus, and craft lasting solutions. Here is the recipe for any organization to solve problems more efficiently.”
―Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD,president, Institute of Medicine

“Having worked closely with Governor Leavitt and Rich McKeown to create Western Governors University, I can testify that they are masters at bringing together diverse interests into powerful alliances. Finding Allies, Building Alliances will benefit anyone in business or non-profit leadership, since the right alliances with the right partners are a key to success.”
―Robert W. Mendenhall, Ph.D., president, Western Governors University