Partnership? I will bring two Armadillos, you bring your Dromedary. OK?

Funny word that. Partnership.

Partnership typically means a thing - a device that involves, equanimity, balance, shared values, shared outcomes, respect and free transfer of experience and asset. It's about transactions yes - but beyond. Multiple dependencies and actions across a bunch of humans. Trading in real value.

In my experience it often doesn't mean that at all.

Most times there is a winner and a loser.  A leader and a grudging follower – plus quite often a fractious break down leading to long term resentment and cost.  All of this is because the way, shape and form of partnership wasn't set up properly. (See previous post.) And/or it was formed from naïve optimism mixed with good natured belief as the basis of the 'partnership'.

"Pah! One of my armadillos is worth way more than your Dromedary. I now discover."

Well to me this result falls into the same category of every program or project. I'm not saying all this is ever easy but we actually build in failure to the majority of partnerships.

Nowhere near enough attention gets paid to the ‘way’, the ‘shape’ and the ‘form’ of the thing. In modern arrangements there is a much better way to arrange things than a flat partnership agreement anyway.

Take a value network for example, where the exchange of value between members is, out the outset, variable. It's agreed upfront that it's way more than just the dollars. It's designed and thought about that way round - with open acceptance and an understanding that not everyone is likely to contribute in the same way, shape or form. However everyone knows the overall shape, everyone agrees with the way and each understands the form.

Shaping a common outcome is something that all parties must help to create. Co-create. Open.  The way everyone works is agreed and it conforms to an open standard. The form is clear, different and yet valued across the team. Different returns are a given. This is just how it is. Why wouldn't there be? Everyone is doing different things. It's out in the open. Spending time designing all the moving parts of the partnership is as important as designing the thing.

By setting things up this way, ahead of time, the likelihood of success is dramatically increased. By having a visual representation mapping of every role, contribution, hand off, return and other agreed values or principles the partners all know what is expected and likely to happen. We reduce the risk of failure at least. We stand a chance of showing that (when required to) that Dromedary managed to get us over that hump.

And armadillos can be so snippy.

Posted via email from Just Thinking!