A Six-Word Story

by Richard Crespin
Aug 18, 2015 1:30 PM ET

CSRwire

Ernest Hemingway inspired the idea of six-word stories with his famous challenge and the first, six-word story: “Baby shoes for sale, never worn.” When we work with groups taking on big problems, we challenge them to come up with their own six-word stories describing their endeavors because, to paraphrase Einstein, if you can’t explain it simply, you simply don’t understand it.

Here’s our six-word story: Strange bedfellows doing great things together.

That’s our life’s work. To make it possible for people who don’t normally work together to do really amazing things together. We’ve spent the past few decades looking at how to make the act of collaboration easier, more organized, and more likely to produce results. We’ve uncovered nine pivotal moments in the course of collaboration that can make or break, broken down into their own six-word stories...

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Richard Crespin is the CEO of CollaborateUp, an elite consulting firm advising businesses and non-profits on how to work together to solve big problems. Every nonprofit is a business and every business has a social mission. They just don't always know it or act like it so Richard uses the CollaborateUp Formula to work with firms to find their unique social mission where they can make significant impact and with non-profits to build programs that attract companies as partners and donors. On behalf of his clients, Richard makes strategic introductions, translates the needs of businesses to NGOs and vice-versa, and structures outcome-oriented partnerships that amplify impact and get results faster at lower cost.