Importance of Collaboration

We teach kids how to read, write, and calculate. But almost never how to collaborate. That missing skill shows up later inside companies. We reward the individual who closes the deal, not the team that made it possible. We track personal KPIs but ignore how well people coordinate. The irony is most business challenges are not technical problems. They are coordination problems. It is not about whether one person can perform, it is about whether groups can align, share information, and move together without dropping the ball. The smartest companies know this. They design systems, incentives, and cultures that make collaboration a strength, not an afterthought.

The most important work in community health is often invisible. Recently, someone asked me how to build an integrated social care coordination program. My answer probably wasn't what they expected. I didn't start with technology, staffing models, or funding opportunities. I started with one question: "What problem are you trying to solve?" Too often, organizations jump to solutions before they've reached a shared understanding of the problem. Without that foundation, even well-designed programs struggle to gain traction. That conversation reminded me how much of this work is invisible. When I started my current role six years ago, community health was often viewed through the lens of a mobile wellness van. The van—and the incredible team behind it—was making a difference. But it wasn't the strategy. It was one tool within a much broader effort to improve community health outcomes. Over time, we worked to redefine what community health meant within our organization. Community health wasn't just about delivering services. It became recognized as a strategic function that advances health system priorities, strengthens partnerships, improves access, addresses the drivers of health, and supports our organization's mission. That shift didn't happen because of one grant. Or one presentation. Or one new program. It happened through years of listening, building trust, strengthening relationships, aligning priorities, demonstrating value, and helping others see community health differently. The programs people see are only the visible part of the work. The invisible infrastructure includes: • Trust before collaboration • Relationships before partnerships • A shared vision before implementation • Strategic alignment before expansion • Listening before solutions Programs matter. Technology matters. Mobile health units matter. But none of them become transformational without the invisible infrastructure beneath them. Leadership. Trust. Relationships. A shared vision. Sometimes the most important work we do isn't launching the next program. It's creating the conditions that allow meaningful change to happen. #CommunityHealth #PopulationHealth #HealthcareLeadership #SystemsThinking #HealthEquity #RuralHealth #CommunityPartnerships #SocialCare #ImplementationScience #PublicHealth

Stop treating product management and project management like they're competing for the same job. They're not. And this confusion is costing organizations everywhere. Product management owns the why. We solve problems, create value, and figure out what actually matters to customers. Project management owns the when. They coordinate resources, manage timelines, and ensure execution happens on schedule. What often happens in reality is that PMs are juggling roadmaps AND resource coordination. That created a dangerous misconception that project management is all we do. It's not. Project management is just one piece of our role. I've seen this work beautifully in large organizations. Product managers define strategy and priorities. Program managers coordinate complex initiatives that cut across multiple teams. Neither role is threatened because they're solving different problems. The real issue? When product managers become glorified project coordinators instead of strategic problem-solvers. That's when companies fall into the build trap, shipping features without understanding the why behind them. The best outcomes happen when both functions collaborate, each playing to their strengths. Check out the full episode (only 7 minutes) wherever you get your podcasts to dive into the details! How does your organization handle this balance? Are your PMs spending more time on coordination or discovery?

Comprehensive Emissions Reduction 🌎 Reducing greenhouse gas emissions requires a clear focus on all areas of impact. Scope 1 emissions cover direct emissions from company-owned or controlled sources, such as facilities and vehicles. Scope 2 includes indirect emissions from purchased energy, such as electricity, steam, heating, and cooling. However, Scope 3 emissions are the most significant for many industries and involve indirect emissions throughout the value chain—both upstream and downstream. Scope 3 emissions can represent the majority of a company’s carbon footprint, often accounting for up to 75% of total emissions in many sectors. In industries like food and beverage, Scope 3 emissions can exceed 85%, driven by activities such as agriculture, packaging, and logistics. Understanding this is crucial for implementing effective decarbonization strategies that address not just internal operations but the entire value chain. Decarbonization efforts should focus on collaboration across the value chain. Suppliers, customers, and partners all play critical roles in reducing emissions. Effective strategies require transparency, data sharing, and collective efforts to innovate and adopt lower-carbon practices throughout the supply chain. Without addressing Scope 3 emissions, reaching net zero goals remains a distant target. Managing emissions across scopes requires detailed measurement, monitoring, and reporting frameworks. These efforts should be supported by science-based targets and rigorous methodologies to ensure that reductions are meaningful and aligned with broader global climate goals. Companies must transition from setting targets to implementing actions that drive real outcomes. Supply chain partnerships are essential in the journey toward comprehensive emissions reductions. Collaboration can accelerate the adoption of low-carbon solutions in areas such as energy use, transportation, and material sourcing, helping to reduce the overall environmental impact. Investments in innovation, technology, and data transparency will be key to success. Taking urgent and coordinated action to reduce emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 is no longer optional. It is a business imperative, with significant implications for regulatory compliance, investor confidence, and long-term sustainability. As emissions continue to drive climate change, businesses that lead in this area will be well-positioned to adapt and thrive in the future. Image source: 3Degrees #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #climatechange #climateaction #emissions

India is showing the world how healthcare innovation should be done. While the U.S. poured more than $2 billion into its Cancer Moonshot—announcing grand ambitions but delivering little—India’s Karkinos Healthcare built a nationwide cancer care network with just $100 million. As I explain in Fortune, in four years (less than the Moonshot’s original target), They screened over 3 million people, diagnosed 60,000 cancer patients, and brought life-saving care to 35,000 people in villages and small towns who previously had no access at all. This isn’t theory or another pile of academic papers, it is real-world impact. Karkinos lives saved, suffering reduced, and a model that is now scaling across India with Reliance Industries at the helm. Having had a front-row seat as an advisor and mentor to Karkinos, I saw the challenges: logistical nightmares, funding gaps, and moments when the company’s survival was in question. But determination, speed, and flawless execution turned the tide—proving what’s possible when bold vision meets relentless action, both Venkat R. and Moni Abraham Kuriakose did wonders. Governments everywhere should take note: the future of healthcare depends on partnerships that execute, not just research grants and bureaucracy. The lesson is clear—whether in India, the U.S., or anywhere else—the winners will be those who combine vision with focused, scalable action. https://lnkd.in/g7N7gczr #HealthcareInnovation #India #CancerCare #PublicPrivatePartnerships #Execution #Karkinos #GlobalHealth

Three dashboards. Three different answers. One company. We were in a board prep meeting for a $12M ARR SaaS business. Marketing said pipeline was up 42%. Sales said deals were “strong.” Finance said cash was tighter than expected. All technically true. And completely disconnected. The CEO looked at me and said, “Why does it feel like we’re growing… but not winning?” That’s when we pulled the thread. Marketing was optimizing for MQL volume. Sales was comped on closed-won revenue. CS incentivized on renewals, not expansion. Finance was modeling burn on bookings, not cash collected. Everyone was hitting their number. The company wasn’t. That’s not a sales problem. That’s not a marketing problem. That’s a RevOps problem. And RevOps isn’t CRM hygiene or a better dashboard. It’s economic alignment. We rebuilt the system in three moves: ① Defined a single source of truth for pipeline stages tied to revenue recognition rather than lead status. ② Shifted marketing compensation to pipeline quality (stage progression + win rate), not just top-of-funnel. ③ Modeled CAC payback and expansion revenue by cohort so every growth experiment tied back to enterprise value. Nothing flashy. No new headcount. No AI wizardry. Just alignment. Six months later: Win rate improved 11%. Sales cycle shortened by 18 days. NRR climbed from 101% to 123%. Burn multiple dropped below 1.2. Same team. Same product. Different system. Here’s the thing most founders miss: Growth is not a volume game. It’s a coordination game. If Marketing, Sales, CS, and Finance are optimizing different outcomes, you don’t have a growth engine. You have four very busy teams. The best RevOps leaders I know don’t obsess over dashboards. They obsess over incentives. Because incentives drive behavior. Behavior drives metrics. Metrics drive valuation. If your board meeting feels confusing, it’s probably not because your growth is unclear. It’s because your economics are. End stop.

Bit odd innit? 👀 Pablo Ylarri 🎯 just dropped a great piece on this on the Product Marketing Alliance Pablo leads PMM for LATAM out of Buenos Aires, working across 14 countries in three languages. Pablo lives this problem daily so I trust his pov on this! The problem: Fragmentation pulls you apart Markets demand localization. Sales reps on the ground know their prospects better than anyone. They want messaging that feels local, tailored, and relevant. and... Leadership demands consistency. Product positioning, brand promise, and strategic narratives must be unified, or the company risks confusing customers, analysts, and investors. As a PMM, you sit in the middle of that tension. And in fast growing orgs, fragmentation can happen quickly: AKA... - Regional decks multiply - Translations lose nuance - Sales collateral drifts from the agreed narrative - Teams spend more time debating "what we say" than actually selling So, how do you solve this big challenge? Pablo says start here: 1) Single source of truth One core messaging framework. One transparent process for updates. No silent edits floating in Slack threads and old presentations. Sales can localize, but they start from the same base. 2) Align across languages, not markets Translation isn't mechanical, it's strategic. English emphasizes directness. Spanish requires precision in formality. Brazilian Portuguese favors conversational tone. Treat each translation as adaptation, not copy. 3) Build partnership with Sales Regional reps will improvise if materials don't reflect their reality. Involve them early in message testing. Establish regional champions. Celebrate when local input improves global narrative. 4) Flexibility within a framework Define non negotiables: core value prop, strategic narrative, differentiators. Give regions room to adapt delivery: local examples, nearby case studies, tone adjustments. 5) Communicate relentlessly with PMM peers Weekly syncs. Shared document reviews. Quick check-ins to avoid duplication. Silence creates inconsistency. Two PMMs can accidentally create two PMM philosophies. 6) Codify lessons into playbooks Every time you solve a fragmentation issue, document how to prevent it next time. Messaging frameworks. Enablement guidelines. Localization rules. Playbooks scale trust. P.S. What else would you add PMMs? Make sure you give Pablo a follow btw!

Witnessing the profound impact of social and economic factors on health has reshaped my perspective on healthcare. Our well-being isn't just determined by what happens in clinics but by our access to food, housing, utilities, transportation, and safety. These factors can profoundly influence our lives, especially for those who are marginalized or economically disadvantaged. In the U.S., nearly two-thirds of primary care physicians screen patients for social needs, yet only about a third screen for financial security, a critical concern for many low-income Americans. This gap reveals a significant mismatch between what physicians are looking for and what patients are most worried about. Our current healthcare system is slowly recognizing the importance of addressing these drivers. Providers, payers, and policymakers are taking steps to integrate social and economic needs into clinical care. This includes screening patients for these needs and coordinating with community-based organizations to address them. However, this effort often requires resources that many practices lack, and some argue that addressing non-medical needs falls outside the traditional scope of healthcare. From my perspective, the evidence suggests that meeting these needs can reduce costly healthcare demands and improve outcomes. For example, food insecurity is linked to chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension, which require ongoing management. By addressing such needs, we can potentially alleviate the burden on emergency and chronic care services. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have facilitated these efforts by creating pathways to address social needs. Yet, many states, particularly in the Midwest and South, have yet to fully leverage these opportunities. Encouraging more states to participate through simplified application processes and clearer guidance could expand these beneficial programs nationwide., investingIn my work, I've seen the critical need for a healthcare system that addresses more than just clinical symptoms. By focusing on the social determinants of health, we can create a more holistic approach to patient care. This means not only screening for and addressing these needs, investing in community resources, and forming strong partnerships with local organizations. As we move forward, we must continue to advocate for policies and practices that integrate social and medical care. This approach will not only improve individual health outcomes and create a more equitable and efficient healthcare system for all. It's time to rethink how we deliver care in America, ensuring every patient has the support they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives. Read more at: https://buff.ly/4buJ798 #healthcare #hospitals #health #doctors

I am convinced that the textile industry, like many other industries, must undergo a complete system transformation to reduce its carbon footprint. So many processes still rely on fossil fuels, and the entire system is still based on a take - make - waste mentality. Shifting to more sustainable methods and practices will require significant effort across various fronts. While this is challenging, it’s not impossible. We know the main emission drivers and see investments in new technologies and introduction of more renewable energy. These developments, along with shifts in everyone's mindset around consumer behaviors, can move the industry in a positive direction. 🎯 I believe innovation is essential for creating a socially inclusive and planet positive industry. We need impactful new methods and technologies. However, I also think we sometimes define innovation too narrowly, focusing solely on inventions and high-tech solutions. These alone won’t take us all the way. If we broaden our definition of innovation to include new ways of doing things, regardless of their technological complexity, we can better achieve this vision. And ideas about new ways of doing things is definitely something that the industry needs and will need if it is to achieve net-zero by 2050. There are excellent examples of innovations that have impacted, or have the potential to impact, sustainability practices in the industry. One notable example is HKRITA - The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel Limited’s initiative to transition their scientific solutions from a closed lab to an #OpenLab, creating an innovation hub aimed at collaboration, problem-solving, and showcasing solutions on a larger scale. The impact could be significant if the right stakeholders, brands, retailers, and manufacturers, come together to work collaboratively. Another example is the emerging recycling and sorting technologies focused on textile waste. Previous winners of the #GlobalChangeAward are developing automatic sorting technologies to address bottlenecks, and separation technologies like the Green Machine are enabling the recycling of blended textiles. My most important learning is to avoid viewing the transformation that is needed as a solo effort. Many of these challenges are too large for any one entity to solve alone. Collaboration and partnerships are crucial. Often, a solution in one area depends on system conditions in other areas. Therefore, solid partnerships among industry peers, manufacturers, and those involved in the value chain are critical. It sounds like a cliché, but only together can we drive meaningful systems change of the textile industry and secure a just and fair transition for both people and the planet. 🤝 🤲 At the H&M Foundation we are happy to connect with anyone sharing the same drive to transform and decarbonize the industry, so don’t be a stranger, let’s explore how to join forces!