I am still stuck on the differences between Communication, Coordination, Cooperation and Collaboration. I need an analogy to use to demonstrate what it means when two disparate teams actually collaborate together. Imagine Main Street in some little town in North Carolina. On one side of the street is Johnson and Son’s Fine Bakery and on the other side of the street is Marilyn’s Cakes and Treats. Up until now, they have co-existed in peaceful harmony. But look out, the city council is going to allow Wal-Bake to open up a warehouse style bakery just a few blocks away. Mr. Johnson and Marilyn decide to have dinner and talk about what to do.

Over the past few years, they have constantly communicated on the new and improved techniques that are written about in Bakery Style; the standard magazine for bakery owners. They enjoy having dinner and talking about the new equipment and new techniques demonstrated on the learning channel. Communication has been key to their success but they see trouble coming. They need to get better, more efficient, and agile if they are going to stay in business after Wal-Bake comes to town.

The first idea they talk about is to coordinate their orders. They both order flower and sugar from Ben’s Fine Foods. On many occasions, Ben has shared his pricing strategy where you can get a 10% discount for every $1,000 spent. This would cut down on the number of trips Ben has to make which saves gas and time for his people. If Mr. Johnson and Marilyn could combine and coordinate their orders then they can cut the costs and be able to compete with Wal-Bake.

Marilyn takes a quick check out the window and lowers her voice. What if we cooperate together for bake sales with the different school districts? I can’t really handle that kind of volume on my own, but if we can cooperate and standardize on the type of cookies or cakes then we can act as suppliers for the annual fund raisers. By getting in early with the schools and churches, we should be able to build stronger relationships with the community. Mr. Johnson agrees that this is a great idea but something is still missing. Will communicating, coordinating, and cooperating be enough for long term survival and compete with Wal-Bake.

Mr. Johnson ponders for a moment. You know Marilyn, you are the best food designer in the world. You could compete with any of those clowns on the Food Network. I have a great business mind. What if I moved my store next door to yours and we knocked down the wall. We could expand and open up the kitchen so our customers can get more of the bakery experience. This would give us more space and leverage each of our strengths. Additionally, we could talk to Bob who owns the bookstore and I’ll bet he would allow us open of the other wall so his customers could come in for coffee and cake. By collaborating, we could actually create value above and beyond the individual parts. After six months, revenue was up 250% and customers were coming from a far away as Mayberry. The bookstore has decided to expand and Wal-Bake has decided to select another town where the grass is greener.