Why diverse and cross-industry collaboration is hard but crucial
As we hit our 40th episode milestone, we took a look at some of the wide-ranging social issues that have threaded through our recent conversations with progress-makers and thought-leaders.
Whether it’s housing, data science, education, design, or any other field, a dominant theme has been that meaningful change in any industry will always require collaboration. This collaborative approach means reaching across aisles, connecting with local communities, and squaring an understanding of history’s problems and inequalities with the complexities of modern life. Addressing today and tomorrow’s most pressing challenges requires developing the capacity to collaboratively and to effectively work across sectors.
What does collaboration even mean?
Let’s think about a problem like racism, and consider the various individuals affected and all the systems at play. Can one policy, however well crafted, or a social revolution, however well organized, or an educational curriculum, however well-thought-out, by itself solve this problem? The answer is a resounding no.
As solution seekers, we can choose to focus on only one piece of the problem and tackle only that piece. Or, to be true progress-makers and boundary-pushers, we can engage multiple stakeholders in order to design solutions that are multifaceted, complex enough, and possess the diverse perspectives and resources needed to adequately address such problems.
Collaboration, different from cooperation, is the action of working together with someone to produce or create something. Collaboration is what differentiates progress makers from everyone else; they increase the complexity of their own perspectives, moving beyond their respective silos, to meet the demands of complex problems.
When collaboration is done right, it, in turn, increases representation and diversity in designed solutions.
Inclusivity and accessibility are areas where we must progress if we want to move forward into a healthier and happier world. Design has long ignored this issue, opting instead for designs that are easier to mass-produce and work for the “many” but not the “few”. Manisha Amin, Chief Strategist and Visionary at Centre for Inclusive Design, says we must flip this model on its head, and that by working from the edge, we can get to a middle ground that works for everyone. This approach, she says, will require the awareness that we’re living in a complex, dynamic system that is always changing, and the need for companies to bring in diverse people from many backgrounds to design products that reflect that diversity.
Listen to our podcast episode with Manisha Amin from the Centre for Inclusive Design:
Knowing vs Understanding:
A lot of power lies in how we frame the problems we aim to solve and in how we determine what the right question to ask is. Albert Einstein said: “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”
One of the most compelling aspects of collaboration is the promise of a reduction in bias. The risk of bias exists everywhere and in everything humans do, and that is never going to go away. However, when we collaborate across industries, with stakeholders, and with diverse teams we move beyond a one-dimensional knowledge toward a multifaceted understanding.
Looking at the issues of race and racism that are permeating our social consciousness at the moment, with the seemingly endless instances of police brutality, systemic racism, and the positive and powerful emergence of the Black Lives Matter Movement in response to these injustices, finally, we are all beginning to understand and see the normalized social and political hierarchies that have brought us such injustices.
Lucretia Berry, the Anti-race/ism Curriculum Specialist for Community School of Davidson and Founder of Brownicity, argues that education is the cornerstone of any meaningful discussion on race. She has identified four “false-starts” when it comes to our discussion of race: having a colorblind approach — i.e thinking, “we’re all beige”, approaching it from an a-historical perspective, using anecdotal evidence to say this is when racism is/isn’t happening or who it is/isn’t happening to, and the tendency for political platforms to narrate people’s views on race.
Dr. Berry believes that education is key in correcting these false starts and engaging in meaningful dialogue. But an education can’t just come from anyone. It is of the utmost importance to seek out the people who have lived these experiences, who are experts in their fields, and who truly understand the nuances of the problems you seek to understand.
Listen to our podcast episode with Dr. Lucretia Berry from Brownicity:
Vishaan Chakrabarti, an architect, urbanist, educator, and author, as well as the Founder of his own global architecture studio, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), has also approached issues of race and inequality from his own prolific architectural/design perspective. His non-linear entry into the field — he studied art history, photography, and city planning before choosing architecture — makes him an embodiment of the sort of interdisciplinary/collaborative approach needed to bridge gaps in understanding. Chakrabarti sees 400–500 years of racist colonial history manifesting in our physical environment. This is especially true with regard to housing. We must see housing as infrastructure and housing as health if we want to correct these historical inequalities, but first, we must acknowledge the history and the policies that created these problems.
Listen to our podcast episode with Vishaan Chakrabarti from PAU:
These inequalities have certainly come to the forefront during the COVID pandemic, where we’re seeing poorer communities and communities of color hit harder and more persistently by the virus. Yolande Barnes, chair of the UCL Bartlett Real Estate Institute, spoke to us about the myriad inadequacies in our dated, 20th century built environment that have been revealed during the pandemic. She spoke to the problems with zoning and use classes in creating inflexibility within communities and neighborhoods, as well as the need for co-creation with the community when it comes to development.
Listen to our podcast episode with Yolande Barnes from the UCL Bartlett Real Estate Institute:
Collaboration is not easy and a collaborative environment or culture can be difficult to achieve in reality, because it fights against our human nature. Collaboration requires people to be comfortable with disagreement and friction. Yet, more often than not, the collision of two ideas will allow for the emergence of a third and better idea that would not have seen the light of day without this collaboration.
Over the course of our 40 episodes, we’ve had many other incredible designers, educators, artists, and business people who have contributed so much to the world, and who are looking for creative solutions to the problems we face every day. SOUR and What’s Wrong With: The Podcast hope to facilitate these meaningful dialogues and continue the conversation as we push forward through this complex, problematic, yet beautiful world.
Let us know what topics you would like us to cover in the comments!
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