Written by Sue Dyer, Founder, IPI
Construction projects succeed or fail not because of contracts, schedules, or even budgets, but because of people. And at the heart of every project team are values. You can’t see values directly, but you can see their results. Values create attitudes, and attitudes create behaviors. If a team is going to work collaboratively, it’s the values that matter most.
From Conflict to Collaboration: Why Values Matter
Consider a project I was called in to facilitate for, after it had spiraled into dysfunction. Two trailers sat side by side on the jobsite, one for the contractor and one for the owner. Yet the doors stayed locked, and the only communication between the two teams was through emails pointing fingers. The project was millions over budget and months behind schedule.
When the teams finally came together in a partnering session, the root cause wasn’t technical. It wasn’t scheduling. It wasn’t even money. The breakdown stemmed from an early perceived slight between the leaders that snowballed into mistrust. What followed was defensive attitudes and adversarial behaviors that crippled the project.
Once the leaders apologized to each other they stopped seeing the other as their “enemy”. They saw they needed the other person (and their team) to get the job done. Attitudes shifted almost immediately. Behaviors followed. The project got a fresh start, proof that values and attitudes are the foundation of performance
The Adversarial vs. Partnering Mindset
In low bid project delivery, the traditional mindset is “I’ll look out for me, and you look out for you.” I am not concerned about you. Some people think you need to Compromise to not have conflict. But when you compromise all the time you will find that people start to keep score on how many times they have compromised, hardly a recipe for creativity or trust.
By contrast, partnering is rooted in shared values: I care about my success and yours. This mindset leads to curiosity, openness, and joint problem-solving. Instead of splitting the orange in half, as in the classic story of two sisters arguing over an orange. The sisters keep arguing until their mother comes in and tells them to stop. Then the sisters actually talked to each other and learned that one sister was baking a cake and only wanted the peel and the other sister only wanted to eat the fruit inside. Partnering works to uncover interests. By partnering, both got what they wanted.
On projects, the same principle applies. When teams share partnering values of trust, respect, and accountability, they ask better questions:
- What do you need to succeed?
- How do we create a solution that strengthens the project for both of us?
This is how partnering values transform into collaborative behaviors that “expand the pie” and create outcomes far greater than compromise ever could.
Why Leaders Must Start with Partnering Values
You can’t dictate behavior directly. You can only cultivate values that shape attitudes, and those attitudes show up in daily actions, whether in meetings, on jobsites, or in problem-solving sessions. Leaders who ignore values risk fueling adversarial cycles. Leaders who intentionally anchor their projects in partnering values create the fertile ground for collaboration, innovation, and success.
That’s why the International Partnering Institute developed the IPI Project Leader Certification Training. It’s designed to help project leaders not only understand the technical aspects of partnering but also master the cultural and behavioral foundations that drive successful collaboration.
If you want your projects to thrive, not just survive, start with partnering values. They may be invisible, but their impact is undeniable. Train your leaders, invest in the right culture, and you’ll see attitudes shift and behaviors align.
The next generation of project success belongs to leaders who understand this simple truth: partnering values are the root, collaboration is the fruit.
