Written by Sue Dyer, Founder, IPI

Imagine an organization where conflict is rare, trust is pervasive, and teams effortlessly collaborate to consistently deliver extraordinary results. This vision isn't a dream—it's the remarkable reality at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), thanks to their commitment to Collaborative Partnering (CP) and IPI. SFO’s Director, John Martin, was one of the founders of IPI. Today IPI is led by Judi Mosqueda, SFO’s Chief Development Officer, who serves as President. This case study explores how SFO not only achieved extraordinary outcomes in their construction projects but also transformed their entire organization into a cohesive, focused, and high-performing enterprise through IPI’s Collaborative Partnering. 

A Vision for Excellence 

Two decades ago, SFO was ambitious yet faced familiar organizational challenges: conflicting stakeholder priorities, budget overruns, and misaligned teams. Today, SFO is globally recognized, attracting 53 million passengers annually, regularly achieving top rankings for passenger spending, innovation, safety, and sustainability. SFO credits this transformation to their adoption of Collaborative Partnering, initially embraced in their construction projects and later integrated throughout the organization. 

Building a Foundation with Collaborative Partnering 

IPI's Collaborative Partnering is built on values that transform organizations: Trust, Fairness, Transparency, Respect, Cooperation, and Commitment. By embedding these values deeply within the organization, SFO moved beyond individual projects to reshape its entire culture. 

The Collaborative Partnering Hierarchy: SFO's Roadmap to Success

IPI’s Collaborative Partnering Hierarchy provides a clear, scalable pathway for organizational transformation: 

Step 1: Internal Alignment through Collaborative Strategic Planning 

The first transformative step at SFO was aligning internal stakeholders through Collaborative Strategic Planning. Leadership collectively established a shared vision and strategic goals, creating clarity and unity. This foundational alignment became the cornerstone for collaboration, significantly enhancing organizational focus and teamwork. 

Step 2: External Alignment with Strategic Partnering 

Recognizing the necessity of external collaboration, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) proactively engaged critical external stakeholders—airlines, government agencies, and local communities. This alignment significantly streamlined processes such as regulatory compliance, noise abatement, and environmental sustainability, turning potential adversaries into strategic allies. 

Step 3: Structured Project Alignment 

With internal and external alignment firmly in place, SFO implemented Structured Collaborative Project Partnering across its construction projects. This approach revolutionized project delivery, consistently achieving cost savings of 20-30% per square foot compared to industry norms and eliminating costly claims entirely for over a decade. 

Step 4: Comprehensive Program Alignment 

Expanding on project successes, SFO scaled the Collaborative Partnering approach across its entire capital improvement program. Clear expectations, reinforced through collaborative scorecards, ensured sustained high performance and accountability across diverse projects and departments, magnifying success exponentially. 

Steps 5 & 6: Achieving a Culture of Extraordinary Outcomes 

The final steps transformed SFO’s entire organizational culture. Collaboration became ingrained as a core operational principle, yielding innovation, high performance, and continuous improvement. The accumulated momentum and cohesion positioned SFO as a world-class organization admired globally for its innovation, efficiency, and organizational culture. 

Results That Speak Volumes 

By fully embracing IPI’s Collaborative Partnering, SFO experienced profound organizational transformation: 

• Record Passenger Growth and Revenue: By embedding collaboration, SFO boosted passenger growth dramatically, becoming one of the fastest-growing airports globally and regularly topping per-passenger spending metrics. 

• Award-Winning Excellence: Recognition poured in from industry bodies, highlighting SFO’s accomplishments in sustainability, safety, customer experience, and operational excellence. 

• Financial Efficiency and Stability: Significant and sustained cost savings across the capital program freed resources for innovation and service enhancements. 

• Conflict-Free Project Execution: Through Collaborative Partnering, SFO eliminated costly litigation and claims, enhancing predictability, project timelines, and budgeting. 

A Model for Organizational Excellence 

SFO's experience underscores a compelling truth: Collaborative Partnering, systematically applied, not only delivers extraordinary project outcomes but elevates an entire organization's culture and capability. It turns common adversarial environments into collaborative, innovative powerhouses capable of sustaining excellence. 

Start Your Collaborative Journey 

The journey begins with a single step. By following IPI's structured methodology, your organization can replicate SFO’s success—transforming not just your projects but your culture, operations, and overall organizational health. 

Now is the moment to ask yourself: What could your organization accomplish by fully embracing Collaborative Partnering? 

Unlock extraordinary results and organizational transformation with IPI’s Collaborative Partnering. It’s more than a method—it's your pathway to becoming an organization that excels consistently, collaboratively, and sustainably. 

Discover how Collaborative Partnering can transform your projects, teams, and enterprise. Take the first step toward organizational excellence today by getting your team trained in the IPI Project Leadership Certification courses, and by joining IPI today.