Building Coalition Through Framing
Building successful collaboration requires articulating a shared story, or framing the issue. By surfacing hidden assumptions and delving into what the language hides and reveals, everyone in the group begins to understand the common story they share, and how each individual perspective enriches the story.
Imagine a lake with three boats – a powerboat, a sailboat, and a rowboat – near one shore. If you want to get them together on the other side you might say, "Proceed to the other side of the lake." Each boat captain will determine what is meant by the other side and will move accordingly.
But change the command to "Proceed to the large tree on the other side of the lake." The sailboat must tack to reach the destination; the row boat makes many small course corrections; and the motorboat cuts a straight course. They arrive at the same place, in their own way, because the goal was specific.
Like boats on the lake, organizations working in alliance have many captains, each with their own understanding of the goal. While each group may have different needs and perspectives, framing allows everyone working on an issue to direct their communication toward the same objective.
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