Development Coalitions

Development

Individuals can achieve relatively little by working alone. We find partners, with whom we can engage productively and develop a sustained relationship. We build a network of contacts on which to draw in particular circumstances. We create collaborative advantage. When a new challenge arises, we build a ‘coalition of the willing’ from our partners and network contacts, with different backgrounds, and seek to bring about change. We can refer to this as a Development Coalition. It may cross previous borders, facilitating change and offering a context in which action research can bring results.

Development can take place in many contexts. It involves a move from the known to the unknown. People work together, creating social capital, if they trust their co-workers and feel a common sense of direction or shared value. They engage in ‘pre-competitive collaboration’.

Dialogue and Development

Discussion of Development Coalitions arises from a context of dialogue at different levels, which has been underpinned by a number of separate research traditions, particularly in Scandinavia, where dialogue seminars and Dialogue Conferences play a prominent role. Within dialogue, individuals are able to reflect on their own professional experience. They encounter new ideas, learn from differences and re-describe their own experience. They do not necessarily reach agreement, but they are able to move on in their understanding, often working with new groups of people.

When considering enterprise and regional levels, work organization can be regarded as a missing link, both within and between organizations. In contrast to expert-led processes, the focus is on concept-driven development, where the lead comes from workforce participation. A pivotal role is played by the development organization, which is a temporary and transitional structure in which participants are able to explore new ways of thinking and working. The participants may alternate between work organization and development organization, taking ideas and experience with them. The European Union can be regarded as an arena in which development organizations are facilitated, both at the national level and through networks supported by framework programmes.

...