The Groundwork Model
The Foundations of Powerful Collaboration is a conceptual model incorporating the essential elements of good organising into an easily accessible and easily usable format. The Foundations model can be used in 3 ways:

1. As a generic map, offering a high-level overview of the elements at play in any collaborative endeavour
2. As a planning canvas for startups and projects
3. As a tool for reviewing progress in established teams/organisations​

It is applicable to any process where organisation is required; whether you’re building a team, organising a meeting or event, preparing the field for an important strategic conversation or engaged in the day-to-day running of a successful business.

At the heart of every collaboration lies the Need and Purpose; the reason for which the collaboration exists. You could say that clarity of purpose and need is the starting point; the solid ground on which strong foundations can be build. Without it, nothing else makes much sense. The model describes the Need and Purpose, along with five other foundational elements required for effective collaboration: The Cultural, Strategic, Structural, Practical and Economic Foundations

Visual by Bravespace

Need and Purpose

Context is all important. All organising has at its core an impulse to respond to a need. The need is the compelling and present reason for doing anything. Identifying the need helps to manifest purpose and anchor an invitation to collaborate.
Dee Hock defines purpose as the highest collective aspiration of any group, such that one might say “if we could achieve that, my life, our lives and the lives of those we serve will be better”. The purpose is “what ought to be.”

The Cultural Foundation

"Just as every good farmer focuses all his attention on sustaining and enhancing the quality of the soil, every good organisational leader focuses all her attention on sustaining and enhancing the quality of the social field that she is responsible for." ~ Otto Scharmer

​After shared clarity of need and purpose, we believe the Cultural domain is the primary foundation of any successful collaboration. Without the human element, organisation as a process ceases to exist.
The Cultural Foundation speaks to the importance of cultivating relationships; relationship to self, relationship to others in the team/organisation and the social system to which it belongs, such that it becomes a living entity. If the resilience (or success) of a collaboration depends on the health, strength and diversity of the relationships within it, then the focus must shift to creating those conditions that allow everyone within the team to perform at their best. Once this happens then self-organising and “collective intelligence” emerges more readily.

​Visual by Bravespace

The Strategic Foundation

“It is not what the vision is, it is what it does that is important.” ~ Peter Senge
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The Strategic Foundation provides clarity around the direction and shared work of an organisation/team. Its function is to make visible that which you organise around. It speaks to orientation and alignment towards goals and the importance of clarity and wise decision-making. Vision, Systems Thinking, Creativity, Curiosity, Flexibility, and the ability to work with emergence are qualities that offer strength to this foundation. It helps define what success looks like for the collaboration.
When combined with clarity of Need and Purpose, the Strategic Foundation provides the focus and direction for our shared work. Its function is to make visible and engage the dynamic tension between need, purpose and vision. Translating and communicating this into an overall direction creates clarity around which the individual, team and organisation can align. A strong Strategic Foundation enables us to work in the unknown, and be clear when prioritising or making decisions around what is important - both to the organisation and for the work. Vision, Systems Thinking, Creativity, Curiosity, Flexibility, and the ability to work with emergence are qualities that offer strength to this foundation.

The Structural Foundation

“Self-organising is not a startling new feature of the world, it is the way the world has created itself for billions of years”. ~ Meg Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers
The Structural Foundation relates to necessary operations, functions and structures. It’s importance lies in the ability to provide strength and capacity to sustain the collaboration and the ability to take action. This is where we see the different parts of the system, how they function and influence each other. Consideration should extend beyond an organisation’s conventional boundaries to include shareholders where applicable, for example, customers, board members, family members, neighbours, the physical environment etc. By acknowledging these larger system boundaries, we very quickly see how complexity enters our work.
Structure is important on many levels for the success of any team or organisation:

• Legal structure
• Organisational patterns/structures (leadership, team structures, roles, responsibilities)
• Process structures (systems and processes including how meetings and time are hosted)
• Physical and energetic space
• Communication

Visual by Bravespace

The Practical Foundation

“Ideas without action or inspiration without work are meaningless. Both are needed together.” ~Jos Schuylenburg
The Practical Foundation is about implementation. It is where strategic decisions, priorities and intentions are translated into action to create movement and results. At the same time, action is an integral part of maintaining and strengthening the other foundations of the collaboration. Many factors influence the type of actions needed at a given point in time. Action must always be balanced with reflection and evaluation. We must learn from the impact of our actions to ensure they serve us and the need we seek to address. Wise actions manifest from teams that are well connected purpose and to themselves. In other words, wise action tends to result when:

1. a team holds an awareness of the big picture and the external context.
2. a team and its members are connected to their individual and collective purpose.
3. a team is capable of communicating its own strategic clarity.
4. structures, systems and internal capacity exists to implement the actions deemed necessary.

The Economic Foundation

“A little thought and kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money”  ~John Ruskin
The Economic Foundation focuses on the flows of resources required to sustain the health of both the collaboration and the individuals within it. We use the term economy in its original sense to mean the careful management of all available resources. In other words, monetary transactions are only part of the economy. The Economic Foundation also includes other resources, non-monetary transactions and value exchanges including materials, time, experience, learning, commitment etc. The key to this foundation is that the economy should be hosted consciously, regardless of the nature of collaboration it serves.
Nothing damages relationships more effectively than unconsciousness around money and resources.  Hosting the economy involves not only practicalities such as drawing up and overseeing the budget, managing payments and sending invoices, bookkeeping etc, but also making sure that needs and expectations are met and fairness is achieved when it comes to raising necessary income and distributing surplus.