What can we learn from robots to improve our partnerships?

Photo by Andy Kelly on Unsplash

Research suggests that up to 70% of partnerships fail to deliver their intended outcomes. That’s an incredibly high number and one that borders on emergency status.

I’m reading “Klara and the Sun,” by Kazuo Ishiguro. It’s a wonderful book about an A.F. (artificial friend) named Klara. Klara is delightful, curious and observant — a good A.F. And the story, told in a first person narrative with Klara being the narrator, adds an element of fascination. I find myself considering, wow, this is how a robot might “think”.
​Klara’s “life”, so far (I’m about halfway through), is relatively simplistic as you can imagine a robot’s life would be. She knows her place, is well-mannered, puts her real-life friend, Josie, first, and isn’t emotional about any of it. It got me to thinking about business, specifically partnership problems in business that often arise because partners don’t respect each other or are simply too emotional about their issues.

I have one consulting client right now going through partnership challenges. They’re looking to sell their company to ostensibly buy out a couple of their partners. I also recently spoke to a potential client who is considering drastic steps with her company due to problems with one of her partners. And there’s more! Partnership problems seem to be coming to me more frequently of late. Sometimes I feel like I should have a degree in psychology instead of economics.

It brings to mind my own relationship with my partner in my last company. We worked together for twenty four years, sold our manufacturing company after my twelfth year, bought commercial property and multi-family housing units and kept going together for another twelve years investing in real estate. We did very well. In all our years working together I can’t remember one significant fight or argument. After much thought, I put together a list as to how I think we accomplished this.
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1. We had very clear lines of responsibility, we stuck to those and respected each other’s decisions within our respective areas of expertise. It helped that our positions were quite different. Me? Finance. Him? Design.
2. We never made big decisions without running them by each other. What are big decisions? We mostly set them by dollar amount which grew as our company grew.
3. We kept reasonable and relatively equal working hours. We were both hard workers but had a good life work balance. He probably worked longer hours but I had a much longer commute and four kids to contend with. He respected that. And I appreciated his flexibility. He used to joke that I came in late so I could leave early. Funny. Ultimately, we treated each other with respect and understanding.
4. Neither of us was very emotional. Maybe on my part, it was because I grew up with three brothers and was taught at a young age to hold my emotions in check or else I would be made fun of. Mercilessly. To cope, I became very, well, robotic.
5. We both had integrity in our actions. Integrity leads to trust and trust is crucial. To help achieve trust, keep good track of actions taken and money spent. More is more.
6. We had a good Operating Agreement that put on paper in clear language in black and white, the rules and regulations of our company. I tell every new company to do this. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. It will save you from future problems. I can almost guarantee it.
7. We both had similar goals and ambitions. This is something that should be discussed before the partnership is formed. If you have very different ideas about where you want the company to go, then you probably shouldn’t go into business together. It’s like marrying a person who doesn’t want kids when all you want is kids. Of course, sometimes people change their minds, and in that case you can either compromise or sell the company, or go back to your Operating Agreement.

None of these things is revolutionary. Everyone can do them. Treat your partner like you would like to be treated. Even minority partners. If they want more information, give it to them. If they want annual meeting notes, write them.

Have mutual respect and keep your emotions in check.

Remember, it’s not personal. It’s business. In short, be more like Klara.