Feb 6 • General Discussion
Collaboration and Cooperation...Devices we use for Change
Habari fellow accomplices!
In business, we often default to collaboration—joining forces with others to build something new, solve a challenge, or innovate together. Collaboration is valuable, but for businesses to truly thrive—especially in an era demanding economic equity—we must embrace cooperation.
Collaboration is what happens when Nike partners with an athlete to design a signature shoe. Both parties bring value, share risk, and benefit from the success of the product. It’s a joint effort, built on mutual investment. But collaboration often happens in silos, between those already in the room.
Cooperation, however, is about deliberate economic engagement—not just working together, but intentionally doing business with, investing in, and sustaining diverse enterprises. It is the foundation of cooperative economics, a system that thrives when businesses actively choose where and how they spend their money to redistribute opportunity and power.
Consider this: Instead of hiring a Black-owned consultancy only when facing a diversity crisis, what if a corporation made them the primary strategic partner for organizational development? Not as a symbolic move, but because their expertise shapes the company’s future. This is cooperation in action—a shift from transactional inclusion to sustained economic partnership.
If we are serious about change, cooperation must be as common as collaboration. It is not just about who is in the room—it’s about who we pay, who we empower, and who we choose to build with.
So… let’s collaborate, but let’s prioritize cooperation—and create real change.
Change Happens by Design
~ L.Byrd
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Collaboration and Cooperation...Devices we use for Change
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