I was having dinner with four girlfriends last night and we were talking at length about those of us in the group who are control/neat freaks (three of us) and those who are more “relaxed” on that front (two). Funnily enough, of the five of us, four of us are married to our direct opposites in this respect.
As I type this I’m sitting in my pajamas without a scrap of make-up on at 10.00am in an unmade bed wearing ugg boots. You may have guessed I’m one of the two in our group who is on the more relaxed front. That said, I’m married to an amazing man who can’t comprehend an unmade bed at 10am!
How is it that so many of us end up paired up with someone who in many respects is our polar opposite?
One of my fabulous business partners is also my opposite in many respects. And what drives her insane about me (I’m big picture, she’s detail orientated, I’m get the job done at 80-90%, she’s perfection, I’m functional tidiness, she’s a neat freak) is also what synergistically makes us a good team and has done so for many years now.
One of the biggest problems I had when I originally started looking for staff was that I was drawn to “mini-me’s”. Not surprisingly, hiring “myself” almost always ended in disaster. Why wouldn’t it – I wouldn’t be satisfied working for me!
In the same way that many people marry their opposites, a good business needs people who come from different places, people who approach problems in different ways and people who view the same thing differently. Get over the minor conflict and learn to embrace the differences as the blessings they are and your business can only benefit.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
