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The Power of Cooperation

20 January, 2024 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Koffie Met Slagroom Anyone?

I went on holiday last month. No sun-soaked Caribbean beach for me. Instead, it was the joys of Northern Europe. It rained every single day and then the rain became stormy (you should experience the Rotterdam to Hull ferry in a force eight gale, it is a big boat but it does rock). 

It wasn’t a dead loss though. I tried the gastronomic delights of the Netherlands (stroopwafels), Germany (currywurst) and Belgium (beer, plenty of it). Plus, can you imagine my juvenile glee when I ordered a cup of coffee in Maastricht and was asked if I wanted it with “slagroom”?

We had a good time. The only stressful thing (apart from the hunt for sick bags for my wife on P&O ferries) was driving. It wasn’t so much driving on the right, you pick that up by necessity very quickly; it was the road signs, constant fear that I was going to turn onto one of Holland’s myriad of bicycle paths, and worst of all the give way to traffic emerging from the right rule. It had me grinding to a halt at the most inappropriate times, I still haven’t worked out what I am supposed to do at a roundabout.

It isn’t that any of these signs or rules are inherently stupid. The issue is that they are different, which makes them hard.

I don’t have this problem driving in Wales or Scotland. The road signs might be in Welsh or Gaelic (my Dutch is better), but they use the same standard UK layouts and designs.

The Power of Standards

Standards are all important. They make things easy. It doesn’t matter whether they are road signs, USB ports, food safety rules or weights and measures. Standards prevent confusion, they grease the wheels and remove the grit. The fact that there is a standard is often more important than the standard itself. Think about the pedals in your car. There is no need for the accelerator pedal to be on the right and the break to its left (they could just as easily be reversed), but imagine if it wasn’t consistant.

There is More to it Than That

But this post isn’t about standards; a broader issue is at play. Standards only happen when there is cooperation between different teams, departments, organisations and countries. Standards are one of the many benefits of cooperation. Think win-win rather than win-lose.

Yet, if cooperation is so powerful, why is it that many, if not most, organisations manage their people by creating competition with individual targets, goals and incentive schemes? What would happen if your teams cooperated and (heaven forbid) you collaborated with your suppliers, customers and maybe even the competition?

Perhaps we could even cooperate internationally. My visits to the supermarket would be much more enjoyable if they stocked a s facing or two of slagroom.

Though my wife is not so sure.

If you enjoyed this post try the book

koffie met slagroom


Read another opinion

Image by Hiroshi Tsurumaru

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: collaboration, cooperation, performance management, road sign, standardisation, targets

About the Author

James Lawther
James Lawther

James Lawther is a middle-aged, middle manager.

To reach this highly elevated position he has worked in numerous industries, from supermarket retailing to tax collecting.  He has had several operational roles, including running the night shift in a frozen pea packing factory and carrying out operational research for a credit card company.

As you can see from his C.V. he has either a wealth of experience or is incapable of holding down a job.  If the latter is true this post isn’t worth a minute of your attention.

Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to read it and decide for yourself.

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