Collaborative Leadership, 2nd Edition

10Relationship Risk

The challenges of managing risk in collaborative relationships

‘Mind the gap’ – it’s a phrase every visitor to London has heard a thousand times. Originally recorded in the 1960s as a short automated announcement to passengers to watch out for the gap that opens up between the platform edge and the tube train door at curved station platforms, it has become an English language cliché. But as a safety announcement it contains a simple truth. People have always known that the greatest risks in any system are at the boundaries between one element and another – and that’s never been more true than in today’s interconnected business environment.

There are many cases of safety risks opening up at the boundary between organizations ...