Lynne Kingsley
Piecing Together the Partnership Puzzle
Posted by Mar 14, 2012 6 comments
Lynne Kingsley
Lynne Kingsley
On the surface everyone loves partnerships.
“I want to partner with this organization; I want to partner with that organization; I just love partnerships.”
But do we? Partnerships come in all shapes and sizes, some fit; some don’t. Just because two or more organizations seem to have similar interests does not mean a partnership is the right match.
At the American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE), the opportunity to partner comes quite often though we’ve become more and more discerning over the years.
We have some solid state partners. The Illinois Theatre Association (ITA), for example has partnered with AATE for the past five years in hosting the Theatre In Our Schools mini-conference in Illinois.
We have some sound national partners. We continually partner with the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) and Theatre for Young Audiences USA (TYA/USA) on national issues facing theatre education such as the upcoming revision of the National Arts Standards and Dramatic Change: an anti-bullying initiative, respectively. These partnerships just “fit”.
We’ve also had partnerships that were mismatched. Last year we attempted to partner with a school video content producer along the lines of YouTube. It seemed all the pieces were in place and a partnership was born. Then, something happened. It was unclear to me why it fell apart and the mutual interest seemed to dissipate. It made me wonder, what was the missing piece?
Just last week, I attended the Theatre In Our Schools mini-conference at Hartford Stage where some light was shed on my partnership perplexity. A plenary panel session delved deeper into the construct of successful partnerships. Just as the panel began to discuss, I had an idea. At this moment, I decided to get out my phone and ask my social networks what makes an arts education partnership successful.
Between responses in the room and wisdom from my Twitter followers and Facebook friends, the pieces of the partnership puzzle began to crystallize. Partnerships need the following to be successful:
- Equal footing of all partners
- High stakes for all partners (skin in the game)
- Flexible partners who understands one another’s needs
- Like-minded goals (not just financial)
- Friendship and respect
- Creation of inter-dependence
- Evaluation the memorandum of understanding to determine how partners' needs have evolved. Avoid becoming stagnant.
- Agreement of expectations of everyone on the team
- Understanding of the mission, vision and culture of the partnership
- Development of a "we" mentality
- Commitment of time and hard work
Healthy partnerships contain all the right puzzle pieces that, when constructed correctly, create stunning advancements. When pieces are missing, or the wrong shape or size, the result is all kinds of wrong.
I doubt this list is complete. What’s missing?
From your own experiences, what other pieces are essential for healthy arts education partnerships?
Comments
Hey Lynne:
Great list of issues to consider when thinking of partnering. I believe that we often naively enter in partnerships because it seems like a good idea at the time, but we DON'T take the time to really plan together what the partnership will look like - this can start with a few meetings in which the list you post is reviewed and each brings their perspective to the table in that transparent way Michael describes. Measure twice, cut once.
Thanks for these points, Lynne. You're right that we all love partnerships on the surface. Even with the most "natural" of fits, however, partnerships take WORK. Partnerships between organizations are rooted in relationships between people. Transparency, solid communication and openness to compromise are all key, especially when the partnership is new and trust is being established.
I agree that communication is a big idea in partnerships. Without good communication it will suffer. Communication is such a big part of our lives now and if it is not given attention then people will be on different pages which will really hurt a partnership.
Lynne, the only thing I might add to your list is a commitment to ongoing communication between/among partners. I thinks it's very difficult to over-emphasize the critical importance of open, regular, and frank communication. Loved your blog!
Thanks for your comments!
Talia: I like that phrase "openness to compromise". And relationships with people - not organizations - are vital. Thanks!
Michael: great points on privilege and point of view! Hadn't thought of that, but are too often present beneath the surface. Transparency is key. Nice!
Victoria: It's true - I think another piece might be discernment when entering into partnerships. Not always a good idea.
Hi Lynne
I think its a great conversation to push forward- i think one of the tricks is that we believe we understand the core values needed for real partnership- respect, equality, expectation, etc...- but actually, these words mean really different things to different people. Perhaps less visible and less frequently articulated than mission and vision, issues of privilege, point of view and need wreak havoc with partnerships that on the surface, seem to be natural win-wins. How do we, in addition to agreeing on platitudes, have the hard conversations as we develop relationships that will (if our aim is truly interdependence) demand transparency and growth for all partners? Glad AATE is, as always, thinking about big stuff.