The Stanford Social Innovation Review published a thought-provoking and informative piece on the value and myths of partnerships.
"When studying partnerships promoted by a group of foundations to broaden, deepen, and diversify cultural participation in local communities, we repeatedly came across cases in which the partnerships’ realities did not coincide with their intended goals. The above example is one of the most dramatic, but it illustrates a common theme: For foundations that funded these grantees, partnerships seemed a powerful way to achieve cultural- participation goals. Yet the intended goals often were not achieved, and some of the partnerships’ most significant benefits were unanticipated. Why? Steven Kerr’s seminal paper, “On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B,” provides an important clue. Kerr drew attention to a common irony in organizational life: the tendency for organizations to reward behaviors unrelated or even antithetical to the goals managers hope to achieve.
This sort of goal displacement – where means become ends – occurs in all organizations, including nonprofits and foundations. Grantmakers who promote partnerships may be particularly prone to “Kerr’s folly.” Unwittingly, the funders we studied had come to see partnering – which is no more than a method – as an end in itself. In doing so, they were hardly unique. There is a tendency in the philanthropic world to assume that collaboration has intrinsic value and effectiveness, and to expect partnership to serve as a solution, often to problems that have not even been well defined."
Full Article
"When studying partnerships promoted by a group of foundations to broaden, deepen, and diversify cultural participation in local communities, we repeatedly came across cases in which the partnerships’ realities did not coincide with their intended goals. The above example is one of the most dramatic, but it illustrates a common theme: For foundations that funded these grantees, partnerships seemed a powerful way to achieve cultural- participation goals. Yet the intended goals often were not achieved, and some of the partnerships’ most significant benefits were unanticipated. Why? Steven Kerr’s seminal paper, “On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B,” provides an important clue. Kerr drew attention to a common irony in organizational life: the tendency for organizations to reward behaviors unrelated or even antithetical to the goals managers hope to achieve.
This sort of goal displacement – where means become ends – occurs in all organizations, including nonprofits and foundations. Grantmakers who promote partnerships may be particularly prone to “Kerr’s folly.” Unwittingly, the funders we studied had come to see partnering – which is no more than a method – as an end in itself. In doing so, they were hardly unique. There is a tendency in the philanthropic world to assume that collaboration has intrinsic value and effectiveness, and to expect partnership to serve as a solution, often to problems that have not even been well defined."
Full Article