Lubricating civic reconstruction: reducing losses due to interorganisational friction

The scale of the disaster in Canterbury means that the recovery will require integrated and timely decision making across a range of organisations. The leadership and coordination of the multi-year recovery effort in Canterbury will involve varied groups, with differing interests. Large amounts of work are being done, planned, communicated and aligned. How will we keep the social agenda in sync with the structural agenda? There is no point building buildings, roads and sewers that struggle to find users. At no stage in its history, has the working population of Christchurch needed to collaborate so much. In the initial rescue phase, organisations assisted each other much as neighbours reached over fences: without careful consideration of finances and future. As the recovery phase took over, these organisations took stock of their situations, resources and mandates. Drawing back naturally from the generous help of these first phases, some organisations found they had insufficient resource to maintain early recovery efforts and had to reconfigure. Others had delays in the supply of essential materials or knowledge. Add the overlay of strain that results from the ongoing stress of disruptions and delays to ordinary ways of getting things done across organisations. Evidence is emerging of inter-organisational strain following the phases Gordon outlines for individuals--but the losses of performance are much greater in impact when the linkages break down between, for example, an asset owner and their lead contractor or a core health facility and its contracted service providers. What will keep institutions and organisations joined up, willing and able to act together?