Successful Partnership Mechanism. Part I

Is your business partnership on the verge of collapse?

This simple engineering metaphor might help.

Do you know what a ratchet mechanism is? It consists of a gear wheel and a pawl. The asymmetric teeth of the wheel have a stop on one side. The pawl is pressed against the wheel by a spring or its own weight. Thanks to this design, the wheel rotates exclusively in one direction, reliably preventing any backward movement. The ratchet mechanism is used, for example, in jacks, winches, handcuffs, and bicycles. But it can also be recognized in other areas. For instance, in business.

There are many classifications of human personality types. For our purposes, we can simplistically divide people based on their natural inclination towards two functions — Development and Stabilization. The first function propels the wheel of business forward, while the second function secures achievements, preventing it from rolling back.

Encountering an entrepreneur with both functions equally developed is practically impossible. It’s like in the wild, where some animals predominantly lead a daytime lifestyle, while others are nocturnal. It’s neither good nor bad. That’s just how it is.

From the metaphor of the ratchet mechanism, it is evident that the simultaneous presence of both functions, represented by individuals, is a necessary condition for the functionality of a business. Remove the wheel from the structure, and all rotational movement disappears. But without the pawl, the system ceases to develop progressively. The wheel will rotate chaotically, moving back and forth.

Unfortunately, in real business, things turn out differently. In some companies, there is an excess of fervent activity that yields little in the long run. In others, on the contrary, all processes are organized, polished, and meticulously described, but the business sluggishly drifts like a sailboat in calm weather. This means that one function is hypertrophied, while the other is weak and feeble.

The root cause of such imbalance must be sought in the head of the corporate body. And it doesn’t matter how many owners the company has — three, two, or just one. The problem lies in the hidden beliefs and assumptions of the person, of which he or she may not even be aware. I’ll hint that it concerns the natural inclination to value what we already have in abundance, and conversely, to devalue what we currently lack. However, this captivating topic deserves a separate post.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

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As a business therapist, I help tech founders increase the value of their business by unlocking the potential of their personality.