Because large organizations are often impeded by their size, composition, and structure, in this presentation I recommend that actors interested in solving problems big and small should form action-oriented groups focused on developing and implementing real solutions to specific problems.

1. FOCUSED COOPERATION
A Counterintuitive Approach to
Managing Global Problems
Author: Vincent H. O’Neil
vincentoneil@gmail.com

2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE
• Executive Summary
• Full Proposal
• Conclusion

3. THE ISSUE
The world faces numerous problems, and the institutions
tasked with addressing those problems frequently fail to
generate actionable solutions.
Actors genuinely seeking to address issues both global
and local often find themselves stymied by the very
associations which are supposed to enable them.

4. RECOMMENDED SOLUTION
Adopt an action-oriented approach that avoids these
structural obstacles by promoting cooperation between and
among much smaller groups.
Attract parties from different backgrounds, all dedicated to real
action.
Because those actions will be accomplished through
collaborative efforts to achieve attainable goals, this approach is
called Focused Cooperation.

5. COMPARISON
Large Organizations Smaller, Focused Groups
Size
• Multiple stakeholders
• Broad and growing mandate
• Wide range of responsibilities
• Interested actors
• Focus on a specific issue
• Problem-solving orientation
Composition
• Sovereign nations
• Permanent agencies
• Competing/conflicting interests
• Dedicated participants
• Organization based on practicality
• Common goals
Structure
• Rotating leadership positions
• Bureaucratic subdivisions
• Agreement through compromise
• Roles based on competence
• Task-organized teams
• Solution-based approach

6. COMPLEMENTARY NATURE
This approach doesn’t ignore existing institutions like the United
Nations—it reinforces them, and leverages their considerable
power.
Focused Cooperation not only acknowledges the reality of
national sovereignty—it supports this independence, and turns it
into a strength.

7. BROAD APPLICABILITY
Focused Cooperation is counterintuitive, in that it applies a
smaller-scale approach to combat large-scale problems.
Using a flexible, goal-oriented posture, Focused Cooperation
can produce real results and innovative solutions that can be
applied elsewhere.

8. DIVERSE APPROACH
Focused Cooperation will reach across nations, professions,
industries, and backgrounds to leverage the talents of entities
and individuals that are too often left out of these efforts.
This inclusive approach will encourage inventiveness and
identify best practices in dealing with global problems.

9. GETTING STARTED
Because Focused Cooperation emphasizes the strengths of
smaller, goal-oriented groups, the first efforts under this new
approach are likely to involve independent, self-generating
efforts.
These early groups should publicize their successes and
failures, in order to inspire new groups and give them the
benefit of what their predecessors have learned.

10. HOW FOCUSED COOPERATION WORKS
Focused Cooperation brings together interested actors (that can
include nations, organizations, and individuals) dedicated to
finding and implementing solutions to global issues.
While these goal-oriented groups of actors will form the basic
units of this approach (hereafter referred to as participant
teams) all Focused Cooperation participants should share
information willingly with any interested parties.

11. ACTION-ORIENTED
Each participant team will follow these problem-solving steps:
1. Identify the problem
2. Study the problem to fully understand it
3. Generate potential courses of action
4. Assess the effectiveness of each course of action
5. Choose a course of action
6. Create a plan and then resource and implement it

12. FOCUSED AND ADAPTIVE
Each participant team will identify the problem or problems it
wishes to address.
Team members will study each chosen issue to gain a complete
understanding of its fundamental nature.
This fresh look will avoid outdated assumptions and yield new
insights in a process that is often absent from larger
organizations.

13. FLEXIBLE
Each team will then generate potential courses of action.
After choosing to pursue one or more of these courses of action,
they will resource and implement their plans.
Instead of a single approach, directed from a distant authority,
Focused Cooperation creates numerous independent efforts
operating on multiple avenues.

14. ACTION-ORIENTED
The focus of this effort is action, and so the participants in each
team will be allowed to determine the nature of their working
relationship.
They can choose to pursue formal agreements, or maintain their
association on a more flexible, result-oriented basis.

15. TRANSPARENT AND COMMUNICATIVE
Focused Cooperation is a continuous process in every way.
New teams will form, and existing groups will modify their
methods based on best practices shared by all.
Focused Cooperation places great emphasis on
communication, collaboration, inclusion, and innovation.

16. COOPERATION AND COLLABORATION
Focused Cooperation is not exclusionary; everyone is
welcome.
Those nations and actors that cannot participate will still have
recourse to the aid and resources of large international
organizations such as the United Nations.
All participant groups will work together with those larger
organizations, and share information willingly.

17. CONCLUSION
Using a smaller-scale approach to combat large-scale problems
is counterintuitive, but it is not a step backward.
On the contrary, it motivates interested actors to take tangible
steps forward on multiple avenues, creating an environment
conducive to innovation and likely to produce results that can
be applied elsewhere.

18. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vincent H. O’Neil holds a master’s degree in International Affairs from The
Fletcher School and a bachelor’s degree from West Point. Additionally, he
is a graduate of the Mandarin language program at The Defense
Language Institute.
He has served as an army infantry officer, a financial risk manager, and an
advertising copywriter. He is also an award-winning novelist in the mystery,
horror, and science fiction genres.
www.vincenthoneil.com