From Collaboration to Integration: Building Something That Lasts

The Field Trip

The other day, I took a few of my team on a field trip. I took them back to the location where our organisation was founded 79 years ago. You see, I work with an international network of NGOs that was founded less than a year after WWII ended. Representatives of similar charities from 13 countries came together in the UK in 1946 and decided to form a global organisation through which they could all formally join together.

Here’s what I’ve been reflecting on: 79 years later, not only are they all still an active part of it, but it has grown, joined by around 150 NGOs operating in almost every country in the world.

Do I think that would have happened if the original 13 had just decided to cooperate and collaborate instead of setting up an official international organization? No - I don’t.

Might they be a global network, loosely affiliated, at least in name? Sure. Would they still be working together day in and day out, using shared systems and tools? I think it’s incredibly unlikely.

That takes more than collaboration. It takes integration.

Beyond Collaboration: The Power of Integration

Collaboration is essential, but by itself, it’s fragile. It often feels like something “on top of” our normal work - an extra task, a special project, something we do when we have time. When pressures mount, collaborative efforts are often the first to be sidelined.

Think about how many collaborative initiatives you’ve seen start with enthusiasm only to fade away slowly as everyday demands take precedence. That’s because collaboration without integration depends entirely on ongoing goodwill, shared priorities, and available bandwidth - all resources that fluctuate over time.

Integration, on the other hand, bakes cooperation into the DNA of how we work. It creates systems, processes, and structures that make working together the default rather than the exception. When our founders established a formal organisation instead of just agreeing to cooperate, they were choosing integration over mere collaboration. They created something that would oulast individual champions, survive leadership changes, weather funding challenges, and persist through shifting global priorities.

This progression happens on a spectrum:

1 - Communication: At the most basic level, people simply share information. Necessary, but insufficient for lasting impact.

2 - Collaboration: People work together on specific projects, coordinating efforts and resources. However, collaboration remains episodic and often feels external to core operations.

3 - Integration: Cooperation becomes embedded in the shared DNA. Systems, processes, and structures all reinforce it. Working together isn’t an additional task - it’s simply how things get done.

Our founders understood this instinctively. They didn’t just want to communicate or collaborate - they wanted to integrate their efforts in a way that would outlast them all. And it did - they have all since passed, but the work not only lives on, it has grown exponentially.

The Integration Paradox of Global Teams

The complexity of integration, however, has multiplied as our teams have become increasingly global, dispersed, and asynchronous. I wrestle with this reality every day, working with teams across multiple time zones, cultures, and contexts.

Here’s the paradox I find: the more dispersed our teams become, the more critical integration becomes - yet the harder it is to achieve. When team members rarely or never meet in person, when they work across vastly different time zones, and when cultural contexts vary widely, collaboration can feel impossibly fragile.

The challenges and the questions they raise are real. How do we move beyond just scheduled Zoom calls and shared documents to truly integrated ways of working? When ‘grabbing coffee’ isn’t an option, and when cultural contexts are so diverse, how do we create the connective tissue that turns ad hoc collaboration into seamless integration?

How AI Impacts the Integration Equation

In today’s work, AI tools provide unprecedented opportunities for integration. They have the potential to automate coordination that once required manual collaboration, surface insights across previously siloed data, and preserve institutional knowledge that facilitates integration across boundaries.

Yet despite these tools, the human elements of integration - trust, shared purpose, and commitment to a larger vision - remain essential. AI can support but not replace the human foundation of lasting integration. The challenge is using these tools to enhance rather than bypass the human connections that ultimately make integration worthwhile.

Questions for the Integration Journey

As I’ve reflected on the journey towards integration in a global, dispersed context, here are some questions I’ve learnt it’s important to wrestle with - even if I don’t have all the answers yet! As we continue to move forward on the integration journey that so many of us are on, it’s important to keep questions like these in mind -

• How do we create systems flexible enough to accommodate cultural differences while still providing the benefits of integration?

• What’s the right balance between synchronous moments (which build connection but tend to create disproportionate challenges for certain timezones over others) and asynchronous processes?

• How do we measure the health of our integration efforts? What are the indicators that it’s working?

• How do we onboard new team members well into integrated ways of working when they can’t observe them in person?

Building a Legacy Through Integration

When I stood with my team members at the place where our organisation began, I was struck by the foresight of those founders. They understood that the challenges and opportunities they faced required more than goodwill and occasional collaboration. They needed integration.

As you think about your own leadership challenges, consider where mere collaboration might be limiting your impact. Where could deeper integration - building structures, systems, and processes that make cooperation the default - help you create something that outlasts your own leadership?

The difference between collaboration and integration might seem subtle, but as our organisation’s 79-year history demonstrates, it can make the difference between a short-term initiative and a lasting legacy.