Partnerships

I think I am more of a solo worker. My default tendency is to go at it alone. No expectations, no disappointments, everyone's happy. My dad used to say to me that "no man is an island". I never really understood what he meant then :). I just looked it up today and it said that human beings do not thrive when isolated from others. It's apparently a quote from John Donne. I first heard of him while watching Wit starring Emma Thompson on HBO. Incidentally, a portion of this film was shown to us in an ethics exercise last year. The professor said that she has shown a Star Trek episode for this exercise in years past. I would have enjoyed that as well :).

So it always amazes me when partnerships do work. Sometimes partners choose us, sometimes we choose our partners (though I can't recall ever choosing one). Sometimes the circumstances choose the partners for us. I think the key for me is that I need to know my own strengths and my partner's strengths. I need to be able to delegate things that I may not be good at and take charge of the things I do well. I need to know my partner's limitations so I can serve as the backup troubleshooter. I need to humbly acknowledge that other people can have more creative and novel ideas. I don't have that particular strength. But you can give me an idea that I agree with and I can run with it. The idea might not have originated from me but I can make that idea concrete. I like making sure that little details fall perfectly in place. So here's to partners that rock and successful projects accomplished :).