Andrew Dietz is Founder and President of Creative Growth Group, Inc., a business development firm that exclusively helps professional service organizations sharpen growth strategies, enhance client development capabilities, and implement marketing and business development initiatives. 

On Thursday June 20, 2013 SilverEdge, along with its partners Deltek and Creative Growth Group, hosted our ninth “Next Firm Forum – Wine and Wisdom” event: an early evening discussion and light dinner for our clients and friends-of-the-firm.  SilverEdge launched this thought leadership series earlier in 2010 as a forum for professional services firm leaders to exchange ideas and build connections that support their continued success.

Our June 2013 session focused on “Creating Collaborative Advantage: How To Get Fiercely Independent Professionals To Collaborate For The Benefit Of Each Other, Their Firm and Their Clients.”  Special thanks to our speakers and panelists at the event:

• Jim Signorelli, CEO, eswStoryLab

• Mike Santoro, President, Walker Sands

• Sarah Miller Caldicott, CEO, Power Patterns

• Bret Tushaus, Product Director, Deltek

Some key takeaways from the event around how professional services firms can create a culture of collaboration within their firm included:

  1. Facilitate the phases of collaboration
  2. Catalyze your culture
  3. Operate organically
  4. Watch your words
  5. Create collision zones
  6. Make midnight lunch
  7. Provide permission
  8. Choose collegiality and select for synthesis
  9. Tap into new technology
  10. Establish the business case

 Over the coming weeks we will begin to explore each of these topics in more detail. Stay tuned.

Here are some great shots of the event provided by ThinkLeigh Photography: