What research and practice reveal: recurring problem patterns

Recurring problems in current contracts include

Wrong focus

• oriented toward failure, disputes and sanctions rather than success
• reactive instead of proactive
• little support for achieving sustainability goals in practice

Wrong mindset

• transactional rather than relational
• defensive rather than collaborative
• encourages box-ticking instead of meaningful responsibility

Wrong framing

• emphasises restrictions and sanctions over enabling desired behaviour
• misses opportunities to make expectations constructive and explicit

Wrong functions

• legal safeguarding overemphasised
• communication, operational alignment and collaboration neglected

Communication failures (language and design)

• vague, inconsistent, complex or overwhelming language
• poor structure and navigation (“walls of text”)
• fragmented contract packages without clear information architecture