One of the three pillars of the Chamber’s mission is “Collaboration.” This week I asked myself if I understood the difference between collaboration and cooperation. I discovered that my knowledge of this distinction was limited and as a result my responsibility for delivering the Chamber’s mission was limiting some of our actions. So, the research and learning began to develop productive actions to drive more collaboration amongst our members.

The research led to an article by Ron Ashkenas who is a coauthor of the Harvard Business Review Leader’s Handbook. He recommends that small town businesses should look beyond just friendly cooperation and embrace true collaboration to achieve greater results. Cooperation simply means helping each other out, while collaboration is about working jointly toward shared goals, making hard choices, and fully synchronizing efforts for measurable success. 

Cooperation vs Collaboration

Cooperation is when people support each other with information or resources, often for efficiency or simple tasks. It’s about getting along and making things run smoothly, but each person or group still works towards their own objectives. Collaboration, on the other hand, means actively joining forces for a common objective, with shared responsibility and investment in the outcome. Collaboration requires trust, open negotiation, and alignment of goals—plus willingness to make tough decisions together. 

Why This Matters for Local Businesses

If our local shops, service providers, or organizations only cooperate, they risk missing out on better solutions and bigger opportunities. Collaboration lets businesses combine strengths, create new offerings, reach more customers, and solve shared challenges—such as event marketing, bulk purchasing, or community promotions. A current example here in Fredericksburg is the Chamber committee, Historic District Merchants, collaborating to create joint promotions, use marketing efforts of the Convention and Visitors Bureau to their collective benefit, and deliver on promotions for our local citizens.

Mr. Ashkenas’s Recommendations to Foster Collaboration

• Align Goals: Start partnerships by agreeing on specific outcomes and measuring success alongside each other. 
• Be Transparent: Share information openly, communicate honestly about resources and challenges. 
• Negotiate Roles: Jointly divide tasks based on strengths and maintain flexibility in adjusting responsibilities.
• Use Collaboration Tools: Use platforms like shared document systems, project trackers, and regular meetings to stay coordinated.
  
  

Final Thought

Moving from cooperation to collaboration is more demanding, but it leads to innovation, stronger growth, and real community impact for our local businesses. We look forward to celebrating supportive relationships and striving to build collaborative partnerships for lasting success.