spent; it allows people to show a different side of themselves. For
example, a new collaboration we have begun that attempts to create
a wood manufacturing network will require a larger investment of
time because it involves people from Montana as well as Idaho. We
simply do not know each other well.
Trust building is also the reason that many collaborative efforts
begin with seemingly inconsequential issues. Trust is best built with
less at risk. An early IRDC project had to do with encouraging tim-
ber bridges; another concerned community tree-planting programs;
a third was a straightforward survey of community water and sewer
rates. Over time these have led to more substantive and strategic en-
deavors. In the Montana example, a collaboratively-organized con-
ference on value-added wood products built a foundation of working
relationships for the network project. Other current collaborations
include a Community Mandates Pilot Project, a Rural Telecom-
munications Education Project, and a series of rural leadership ca-
pacity-building efforts.
Lesson 5. Check Egos at the Door
For many people, who gets the credit is as important as what gets
done. The IRDC would accomplish little or nothing without the con-
tributions of its members. The IRDC Board of Directors wisely de-
cided on a low public profile from its inception. Unlike many other
state rural development councils, there has been no public relations
effort to inform rural Idaho of our intentions or our accomplish-
ments. As a wholesale entity, IRDC success does not depend on
public awareness. In fact, the public is likely to misinterpret our net-
working role and assume the IRDC delivers services.
The IRDC avoids perceptions of competition with its member
agencies by giving them credit for accomplishments. This policy has
paid off in willing partners. Similarly, rather than create duplicative
committees, we have recognized existing interagency coordinating
efforts as affiliated work groups. The IRDC does not attempt to con-
trol their activities, but simply offers a communications link to the
larger council. For example, the IRDC has helped recruit new part-
ners, has provided meeting facilitation, and has served as a commu-
nication vehicle for a large interagency working group on rural
health care.
On a personal level, it is hard to let go of control and credit. In a
successful collaboration everyone feels they have contributed. In
one IRDC project, local leaders are still convinced they initiated the
project. In very popular projects, there is a risk of partners claiming
credit in public and forgetting to share it with the others. Abandon-
ing a collaboration to chase glory can destroy trust in a hurry.
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