The premise of the 6th Principle is not that co-operatives cannot exist without each other. Co-operatives by their design are self-sustaining organisms. Co-operatives can operate and succeed alone, but will only thrive and grow the co-operative commonwealth when they work together.

It is, perhaps, because each co-operative can do so much by themselves that co-operatives fail to realise how much more they can do together. This 6th Principle embodies the unique characteristic of the value of mutual self-help, which is that by working together co-operatives can be greater than the sum of their parts. Co-operatives co-operating with others serve members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement because none alone is as skilled, smart, or as passionate as when all are working together.

The aspiration to transform society is inherent in this 6th Principle. the desire to build the global co-operative commonwealth is reflected in the Alliance's blueprint for a Co-operative Decade and was part of the vision championed by the rochdale Pioneers and other co-operative pioneers, including Charles Gide in france and Alfonse and Dorimène Desjardins in Quebec, Canada. Co-operatives have the proven power to be transformational.

The desire to build a better co-operative world is not exclusive to existing co-operative members, but extends beyond to other civil society movements and peoples. The co-operative movement has, since its foundation, allied itself with and co-operated with other progressive movements and peoples working towards social justice and collective human progress. Joint campaigning work, combined with the economic work of co-operatives, contributes to the construction of a global co-operative commonwealth, which is and always will be the fullest manifestation of this 6th Principle. Co-operatives can only maximise their impact through practical, rigorous collaboration with each other.