More on collaborative working

In my previous post, I used the analogy of star-formation to discuss one aspect of consortia-building. I want now to turn to poetry as a means of highlighting another side of working in closer partnership.

Try these lines from an e.e.cumming’s poem (the lower-case letters are the poet’s conventional style):

love’s function is to fabricate unknownness

…

how lucky lovers are (whose selves abide

under whatever shall discovered be)

I understand these lines to say that one purpose of a relationship is to make space in which something as yet unknown may emerge. And having emerged (‘whatever shall discovered be’), how lucky lovers – friends – organisational partners are, whose relationship is strong enough to survive, be strengthened by, and to make use of what they have created between them.

Put this way, the link to consortia becomes clearer: we do not know what will emerge from the process, but the starting intention is to find out if we have a relationship strong enough to hold the fruits of collaboration.

What becomes possible to achieve, may in the end be what no-one chooses to sustain. But if one begins with an adventurous “It makes sense to be in the same room for the moment, let’s see what happens as we continue…”, then I believe the partners will have much greater capacity to abide under – and develop further – their mutual creation.

Framework’s core membership is meeting later this month to explore the world of collaborative working and consortia-building. If you want to know the outcomes of our discussion – or to suggest poetry or other resources we should be paying attention to! – please do be in touch; your ideas would be warmly welcomed.

The poetry quoted above is taken from “love’s function is to fabricate unknownness” in Selected Poems 1923-1958 e.e. cummings, Faber and Faber 1969, page 34.