by Lisa Renner originally posted at www.rennergroupllc.com

We can tell from demand for speaking engagements that CEOs in North America are scrambling to equip themselves with the skills to succeed at external collaboration. They’re thirsting for themselves, their organizations and boards of directors to hear the stories of successful collaboration occurring around the globe, as well as to learn the techniques that are allowing others to succeed.

In the midst of uncertainty, it is always good to hear that you are not alone. IBM just released their 2012 Global CEO Study. Capturing input from 1700 CEOs across 64 countries, it is a trusted tool for telling us what's on the minds of top leaders around the world. In this year’s study, nearly 70 percent of CEOs indicated they are actively engaged in external collaboration and partnerships, representing a 25 percent growth rate in the past four years (up from 55 percent in 2008).

CEOs indicate they are collaborating more to achieve three primary benefits: to obtain new technology, leverage capabilities possessed by others, and to open doors to new markets and new customers that would otherwise be inaccessible. Even more than the desire to cut costs, they are driven to collaborate by the need for greater innovation and to drive top-line revenue growth in today’s more complex business environment. They’re finding it more difficult today to be successful when going it alone. In fact, only 4 percent of CEOs indicated they plan to attempt to do everything in-house.

In the face of these shared pressures, most were quick to acknowledge the struggles they face in becoming more open and trusting in their collaborative relationships. Many organizations have worked hard to increase openness and transparency with employees and customers. However, a majority of CEOs expressed difficulty learning how to be a more trusting partner with those outside their immediate value chain. In the IBM study, a CEO from Vietnam notes, “We tend to see everyone as a competitor. We need to see them as partners. We need to find win/win solutions and share profits. But this is a cultural shift, it’s hard to change.” The message is clear from around the world. Achieving the goal of differentiation and “uniqueness” in the 21st century marketplace will mean crossing boundaries, not building them. Leaders need to develop new skills in order to excel at partnering with other organizations.

CEOs were quick to admit the need to do business differently than they had in the past. When asked to cite the major areas their organizations needed to change to be successful, Partnering/Collaborating with External Organizations was the most common response, with 53 percent of the CEOs indicating this was a critical success factor. Surprisingly, this even exceeded Internal Collaboration (52 percent), reinforcing statements from a number of CEOs that they are relying on external collaboration to be their primary driver of innovation.

As pressures continue to mount, CEOs need to fundamentally change the way they are interacting with partners:

  • Leverage technology. Engage technology to span boundaries and make distributed and mixed working teams more efficient. This includes social media, cloud technologies and integration of data to improve business insights across the collaboration.
  • Expand engagement. Collaboration at the CEO level only is proving insufficient. Successful partnerships require connections and relationships to be established at multiple levels, across functional areas and vertically within organizations.
  • Share control and reward proportionate to risk. Organizations recognize that to collaborate successfully they must be willing to share and approach collaboration as an opportunity to learn from each other. Governance must be a shared activity with parties working collectively to determine priorities, make key strategic decisions and allocate funding.

Beyond just partnering skills, CEOs indicate the need to change their philosophy and views toward collaboration. They’re having to become more open-minded and expand the search for partnership opportunity beyond their industry or immediate value chain:

  • Study other industries. Look for unconventional and nontraditional alliances. Be quick to consider leveraging emerging capabilities in other industries to address market shifts or new needs in your own industry.
  • Be a disruptor. Don’t wait for events in your industry to force you to act. Question the norm and introduce new stimulation and thinking from outside your industry. Engage customers, academics and partners who are not part of your normal innovative circle.
  • Think beyond your value chain. Engage and partner with competitors, governments, academia, and non-governmental organizations to attack industry challenges as a team.

We've seen it coming for several years and now the data from the 2012 IBM Global CEO Study confirms it's finally here… a new way of doing business. Rather than control and conquer, it's about collaborating to win. Critical to success will be establishing the foundation for a collaborative culture by educating your organization about the benefits of external collaboration and equipping yourselves with strategies and tools to be successful.

The full 2012 IBM Global CEO Study can be found at: 2012 IBM Global CEO Study