For a change, it was Kaushik who started the discussion. He had come pre-decided about the topic and started off by giving some data saying, “Business partnership break-ups in the first 4 years of operations is in excess of 50 percent, Marriage break-ups in developed world is in excess of 40 percent and we have seen breakups in the world of sports and music too. What are the critical factors that make a bridge partnership last the test of time?”
Padma knew where the discussion was heading and was prompt with her response, “The key element is they must enjoy playing with each other. If the joy factor is missing, everything else is secondary”. Prabha was nodding in agreement and added, “The ability to sit down and discuss issues in a methodical manner and implement corrective actions is another important aspect.”
Kingo had a completely different view. He said, “It is results in tournaments that matter. If a partnership is winning or in the top quartile all the time, they will stick together. You may say it is being result oriented but that is how the world is – people who produce results stay together for a longer time.”
Kaushik gave his expert view, “It is a combination all the three aspects. If any one of them is missing after playing for more than two years, cracks will develop in the partnership. But partnerships which do better with time are the ones which never stop analysing and discussing – Otherwise partnerships tend to stagnate and stay at the same level playing card for card.”
Padma had an important question, “How do we self-rate our partnerships?”. Kaushik was always willing to play the auditor role, “ I think the joy factor is good in all or partnerships and Padma-myself are more process focussed while Kingo-Prabha have better risk taking abilities. I think we need to balance both these skills”.
Kingo wanted to emphasize while processes are important for consistency and reliability, risk taking is key if you want to hit big times. People who have taken risks in life have done well – Of course, the risks must be based on some calculated logic.This discussion brought the partnerships closer and Kingo-Prabha and Kaushik-Padma were seen shaking hands as they left.
Tailpiece:
We have an unwritten rule amongst the canine community – if one barks, all of us will bark, if one runs after a car, all of us will run after it – we are partners in all activities
