Collaboration Leads to Real Results

Collaboration Leads to Real Results

Ellerie Dixon argues that organizations hire people not only for their individual skills, but also for how they contribute to a team. High-functioning teams combine diverse expertise, backgrounds, and perspectives with curiosity, passion, and initiative. Collaboration helps turn those differences into better dialogue, problem-solving, and practical solutions.

Example: Women’s Health Initiative in India

Dixon describes a nonprofit she co-founded to improve access to women’s health information in resource-constrained areas. The founders partnered with a school leader in Uttar Pradesh, India, who understood local students’ needs. The school wanted phone-based information, but some intended users were illiterate, so the team needed to design for accessibility and work with people on the ground.

With no funding, the project recruited volunteer contributors in India and the United States. They:

• Researched affordable platforms for hosting an application and sought advice through their professional networks.
• Worked with local contacts and students to identify relevant health topics.
• Developed content based on research and incorporated student feedback that diagrams and pictures would help.
• Recruited a volunteer medical illustrator through personal networks.

The project illustrates how team members can contribute different strengths, learn new skills, and coordinate across locations to address a complex problem.

Collaboration Playbook

• Start with the people closest to the problem: Engage local partners and intended users to understand needs and constraints.
• Bring together complementary skills and perspectives: Technical, subject-matter, and local knowledge can each fill gaps.
• Recruit for motivation as well as expertise: Curiosity, passion, and drive help volunteers or employees contribute beyond their existing skills.
• Use networks to find resources: Seek advice, platforms, and additional contributors through existing contacts.
• Build feedback into the work: Use input from users to improve accessibility and relevance.
• Create consistent communication habits: The team used messaging systems, regular meetings, and email to coordinate virtually across time zones.
• Connect individual tasks to shared outcomes: Even independently completed work often depends on, or feeds into, the broader project.

Metrics and Targets

No revenue, cost, growth, or other quantitative performance metrics or targets are provided. The project is described as operating without funding.

Presenter/source: Ellerie Dixon; Aspire Institute.