And a very warm greeting to
those I met on my last round-the-world trip which extended from
Mozambique to Latvia, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Bahamas and The
Competitiveness Institute’s Global Conference in Portland, Oregon … the
conference attracted over 400 participants from 40+ countries and
provided an excellent opportunity to share and explore best practices.
This newsletter is being
circulated to the 3,000 people across 35 countries who have
participated in a Cluster Navigators' training workshop. It is also
being forwarded to some 6,000 economic development professionals in a
further 40 countries. Each newsletter covers topical points on the
practicalities of cluster development, drawing on the "Twelve Steps"
process introduced in Cluster Navigators' training workshops.
2. Cluster Facilitators: The key attributes
A facilitator was identified in our
last newsletter as being in part a boundary crosser establishing
linkages across the cluster, a strategist, and critically, a change
agent. So what type of person is needed for this demanding role?
Characteristics of the successful facilitators that we have trained in
a range of countries include:
Ability to earn a position as a
peer…an equal…to the cluster’s senior stakeholders, rather than that of
a servant, a subordinate;
The skills to facilitate team
decision making, but not steering or leading in a traditional sense.
Ensuring inclusion, not a few seniors deciding for many, and being
comfortable in empowering…leading from behind;
Developing a close knowledge of the
activities represented by the stakeholders within the cluster, a
knowledge of the clustering process, and of the external resources that
can be drawn on to support the cluster ;
Comfortable in operating in an environment where s/he has a high degree of uncertainty, with no formal authority;
Never satisfied, always seeking.
Does this
profile check with your experience? Is this successful facilitator
more likely to be a woman? Tell us what you think and vote in our poll.
3. Establishing cluster Leadership Groups
An
early priority in the development of a sustainable clustering
initiative is the establishment of a ‘Leadership Group’, effectively a
Board of Directors. The facilitator usually has a key role in
establishing this group, carefully identifying the preferred leaders
who understand the big picture and are willing to publicly commit.
It is a Group with a balance of skills, able to work as a team
Ideally 6-7 people, covering the triple helix, but not dominated by government, association officials or academics
Initially senior stakeholders for whom failure is not an option…but they may not be easy to find and recruit!
The full Group does not need to be in place straight away
The Leadership Group can be extended through temporary teams with
issue/project focuses; self-destruct task forces rather than committees
in perpetuity. Such task forces:
Broaden participation, spread the work load and minimize the danger of “volunteer burn-out”
Provide an opportunity to identify tomorrow’s leaders
And to bring competitors together in non-threatening areas
4. Future activities
Ifor
Ffowcs-Williams travels around the world 4-5 times a year, scheduling
activities well in advance and often visiting 3-4 continents each
trip. Please make early contact with Ifor if he can support you whilst
on his next travels. Activities over the coming months include:
November: South Africa; then Mozambique & Uganda - cluster workshops supported by Sweden’s aid programme
January 2008 : Sweden - reviewing VINNOVA’s cluster programme
February: Canada - cluster training workshops for the Saskatchewan Government
April: Denmark - cluster training workshops organised by Oxford Research, Copenhagen
June: Finland - Competitiveness Forum
October: South Africa – 11th Global conference of The Competitiveness Institute, Cape Town
November: Australia – 2nd Rural clusters conference, Alice Springs
5. LinkedIn?
Do you use LinkedIn to connect professionally? Ifor does – see www.linkedin.com/in/clusterdevelopment.
You are welcomed to forward a LinkedIn invitation if you would like to
be connected through Ifor to 1,200 economic developers from 70+
countries.
The next newsletter will start the New Year with Resolutions that reinforce Green Lights and highlight Red Lights in the process of cluster development.
Please pass this newsletter on to others.
If this newsletter has been forwarded to you in error, please accept our apologies.
