Create pairs to keep projects moving
Translated from the French original.
I have the pleasure of being involved in several associations.
They have become my personal testing ground for Reuniology.
I facilitate and observe a great many meetings there.
Something leapt out at me a few days ago.
We were in a meeting with a small team on a project we have been working on for more than six months. Laurence was facilitating and reviewing progress on the actions decided at the previous meeting.
The verdict.
Only the tasks entrusted to pairs had actually moved forward.
Other tasks assigned to individuals were lagging behind.
It brought back to mind how innovation projects were steered when I worked at B.
Each project was entrusted to a pair. It could be: research + marketing, research + manufacturing, purchasing + manufacturing.
Back then, the innovation machine was running at full throttle.
Now there’s a fine idea.
What if projects moved forward all the better when tasks are entrusted to pairs.
The Google team behind project Aristotle might call this co-dependability.
Dependability – “When my teammates say they’ll do something, they follow through with it.”
Pairs.
One who thinks, the other who acts.
An optimist to believe in the impossible, a pragmatist to take action.
One in fine spirits, one worn out.
One organised, one overwhelmed.
Next time you attend an association meeting, observe and tell me whether co-dependability is a reality.
