p i h s r e n part matters
PETER CHICO JONES PARTNERS INSYNC
INNOVATION: FINDING A BETTER WAY TO DO PARTNERSHIPS On the day I got married, my father said nine words that changed my life. Dad was a simple man from Elmore in Victoria. He didn’t say much, but would often expose absolute gems of wisdom.
So here’s the room for innovation. Here’s how you can do your partnerships better. Purposefully give your relationships equal attention to marketing, administration, sales, business and financial planning.
“Your success will reflect the relationship with your partner.” I’ve contemplated that concept for many years now and while there’s clearly room for objectiveness around the definition of ‘success’, I’ve found truth in his words. I’ve also found myself investigating to great lengths the nature of ‘relationship’.
Start by constantly asking these questions in relation to your communication with your partners: 1. How does what I just said (or didn’t say) affect the third? 2. How does what I just did (or didn’t do) affect the third?
And now I ask: is there a better way to do relationships in business? Is there an opportunity to be innovative in your relationships? Absolutely! I believe there is and I believe the answer was found approximately 2500 years ago.
3. What can we do to keep improving and building the third? If you are in a partnership of any description, be responsible for both your game and improving the third.
Around 550BC, Pythagoras showed through sacred geometry that when a second circle is mirrored, three shapes are created (see below).
Then Aristotle around 350BC expressed, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Looking at the image, you see that 1 + 1 can indeed create 3. The third is the yellow shape in the middle. This shape is known as the ‘Vesica Piscis’ and throughout the world it can be found in the symbolism of all religions, as it carries with it the representation of manifestation. The third has a power and an energy that many people in sport, business and life have experienced. Intangible, yet impossible to ignore. When two or more people, groups or companies come together and pool their talents and abilities toward a common purpose, this power is created and therefore can be harnessed.
The concept of 1+1= 3 has been around for a long time. However, there’s more than enough evidence out there to suggest that harnessing this concept in our business partnerships has not made it into the forefront of our minds. Most partnerships don’t last and many due to the fact that the third was not nurtured and strengthened as the business grew. It’s in the relationships where the magic happens and the ‘baby’ is manifested. It’s in the relationships where the success of the partnership will be established and maintained. So if you need to find a better, innovative way of doing things in your partnerships, begin by looking at the third.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR In sport, Chico is an Olympic Beach Volleyball coach (Natalie Cook & Tamsin Hinchley). In business he consults, coaches and trains new and established business partnerships. Why? “Because in partnership – we can create.”
BUILDING STRONG PARTNERSHIPS through Communication Understanding Strategies Partners Insync offers consulting, coaching and training for startup and established business partner relationships.
Contact Peter Chico Jones on 0421 204 578 www.partnersinsync.com | peter@partnersinsync.com BUSINESS MATTERS 33
