Perhaps we’d all like to believe that we could do it all ourselves, or that no one could do it quite as good as we can. However, I’ve come to believe just the opposite is true: that almost job and task is better when I’m in partnership with others.
Here’s why partnership works best:
1. Knowledge In fact, there’s very little that any one person could know. Together with others, we cover more bases and expand our knowledge.
2. Strengths. Not only don’t i know everything, I’m not the best at everything. There are a few things I’m great at, but I like to hand off the other tasks to those who are great in those areas. It makes for a better experience and more fulfillment, in addition to a better product.
3. Community. It’s just more fun working with others than by yourself. That doens’t mean you’ve got to be with people all the time, it just means that you can have others there with you to celebrate, commiserate, and share the ups and downs of every project.
Why wouldn’t you want to partner? I’m sure there must be some good reasons why it’s not always optimal, but generally speaking, teams are better than individual performance.
David Curry
