Evaluating Partnerships
Evaluating Partnerships
Evaluating Partnerships
Evaluating Partnerships
We accomplish nothing alone. Partnerships are part of being human. Yes, we are designed for partnership, but how do we know when we should partner with others and what factors make for a good partnership?
Audio Transcript
We accomplish nothing alone. Partnerships are part of being human. Yes, we are designed for partnership, but how do we know when we should partner with others and what factors make for a good partnership? Listen as Brantley and Howard discuss what organizations and individuals should consider when they evaluate partnership opportunities.
Brantley: In our last podcast, we talked a lot about jobs — what makes a good job, job satisfaction, and the current way we evaluate jobs. We were made to work with the unique gifts of others to meet people’s needs.
Howard: Yes, God makes us, saves us, and puts us to work. There is no shortage of needs to meet, but we cannot do it alone.
Brantley: Does that mean we are designed for partnership?
Howard: Yes, it does. From the very beginning, what have you ever done on your own?
Brantley: I’ve hit a hole in one before.
Howard: By yourself?
Brantley: No, but it was my stroke.
Howard: Were you with other people? How old were you?
Brantley: Yeah, I was with some people. I don’t know. This is a bad example.
Howard: You really did it. Yet, how much fun would it have been alone?
Brantley: Well, no one would believe me because my golf game is terrible.
Howard: Without the other people it would have been a little less meaningful.
Brantley: Yeah, so let’s get into our topic for today. Today we are talking about partnerships. Howard, tell us what it means to be designed for partnership.
Howard: From the very beginning, God shows us that He exists in a partnership. In Genesis it says, “Let us make man in our image.” The partnership of the trinity was not plan B. Jesus was there from the beginning. They created man and woman in their image to subdue creation on their behalf. Before sin entered, God created a human partner for Adam — Eve. So God exists in partnership and He created us to be partners with Him and each other to do good work.
Brantley: Ok, so we are designed for good work, but how do we know when and why to partner in our work?
Howard: Even something as small as a golf game involves people cutting the grass and tending to the fields. When you see a need that needs to be fixed, but you lack the resources or gifts to meet it, you need to partner. No one can fully meet anyone's needs on their own. Joining forces allows you to do more good together.
Brantley: A lot of this is just understanding that we are all made differently with different gifts and we need different types of people to accomplish things. For example, I’m terrible with details and I need detail oriented people to help me. We may all have the same goal, but we might get there differently.
Howard: Absolutely, one person makes up what can happen. Another person has to literally add it up.
Brantley: Yeah, I would be terrible at buying the media for an agency. We need people who are just as talented as we are, but who have different gifts, so that we can effectively work together towards the same goal.
Howard: Exactly, and it’s so much more enjoyable to do it together!
Vision Alignment
Brantley: Yeah, it really is. We have four keys to successful partnerships that we want to discuss. The first one is vision alignment. Do you have a relevant example for this that you want to hit on?
Howard: If you ask some people what a partnership is, many people will say it’s an agreement between people. However, before you enter an agreement you must be aligned on the vision for the good you are seeking to do. That’s going to make an enormous difference.
The day of this podcast the Masters is being played. The Masters is a 67 year old partnership with CBS. There is an alpha partner, but every year they make a one year agreement to do business. That doesn't mean they haven't made enormous investments. Their vision is for the local patrons of the event and all televised and digital to have a great experience. And, they’ve done such a good job that it’s raised the production quality of all other golf events. It makes people want to play golf. More people play golf the week after the Masters because they see how enjoyable the sport is. CBS and the Masters are so aligned with their vision that they keep going back to each other to keep the partnership going.
Brantley: For those pursuing Jesus’ vision for their life, how does Jesus inform this key? In other words, how does Jesus inform and impact our vision alignment?
Howard: That’s a great question and here’s the vision for the whole thing: John 15:5-8 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
Amazing! I’ve learned from Harvard, McKinsey, and many other business leadership journals that you need your vision to be vivid. These verses give us an incredibly vivid vision. We stay connected to our source, and when we stay connected to God, ask whatever you wish! Is this like Santa Clause? No, it means that you are so connected that you know what to ask for.
Gifts And Needs Alignment
Brantley: The second key to a successful partnership is gifts and needs alignment. I hit on this a little bit with my career, but this ties in heavily with last week’s podcast especially. Personally, I am continuing to learn what this means. I’m learning what it means to work with a diverse group of people with different strengths and weaknesses, and where those strengths or weaknesses get coached, grown or enabled. Specifically, in the marketing space, there are all the types of subject matter experts that are needed to effectively accomplish a single goal. With the work I am doing right now, we are helping products win on Amazon. There are really small creative levers that can be pulled and I am not the right person to pull those levers, but as a group we can pull those levers and test how well it worked. For me, it’s freeing to be a part of a team.
Howard: Yeah, you have your partnership with Amazon, but within the office you are partners with all your coworkers to meet those needs.
We have a great diagram of what an ideal job looks like — it’s in the resources at the bottom of the podcast. Nothing creates alignment quite like the needs you are meeting as a team. When everyone can name the need you are meeting, it builds unity. Then each person realizes their gifts and how they can use their gifts toward that need together. Teamwork enables everyone to keep going.
In this way, we should view partnerships similarly to how we view jobs.
Value Alignment
Brantley: The third key is value alignment. Howard, do you want to take this one?
Howard: Yes, when you don't see the world the same or care about the same needs of the world, the partnership is going to quickly become misaligned. So the values that are listed in this week’s article — Designed For Partnership — are important. These are not all the values that are important, but here are some of them. First, the value of abundance. You need to see the world as having plenty of resources for everyone. If you don’t, it’s easy to start holding out on each other.
An example of abundance in a partnership we used recently was Apple and Nike. So far this is a 12 year partnership and it’s even helped align their boards. Tim Cook now sits on the board as a lead outside director for Nike. They wanted to reach people globally, so they increased their reach by partnering — instead of trying to do it all by themselves. At the end of the day, somebody owns the app and somebody owns the physical technology, but they get to partner together to serve more customers.
Another value is mutual benefit. The partnership has to benefit everybody. In the best partnerships you are looking out for the needs of others. Asking yourself, “What does my partner need to succeed?” CBS is definitely not the alpha partner, but in the end there is mutual benefit for all parties. According to Golf Digest, at the end of the tournament CBS presents the bill and the Masters pays it. It’s a one year agreement that they will cover it. The thought is that CBS will spend however much it takes to make the tournament great, and the Masters will cover the cost.
Brantley: Just in terms of partnership, we started off this podcast with the premise that work is better together; therefore, it is helpful to know what we are trying to accomplish together and what is good for all parties. It’s helpful to start there because what I’m going through now is I have a friend who is going to do some consulting for our company. Some of this work will take place after hours. For me that is helpful, but I was concerned that it might not be good for him. So I asked him about it and he said that he enjoyed this type of work so much that he would be doing it during those hours anyways, and now he gets paid some money for it. This is a super simplistic example of mutual benefit.
Howard: So good. I learned this early in my career when I was working at a loan company in Nashville. We had a company we worked with who literally did not charge us enough. So I asked them to charge us more so that they could hire more support staff to handle the workload. I was the first, and probably only, person who asked them to charge more.
Brantley: In terms of integrity and transparency, when you are considering other people’s values and aligning with them correctly, we think this facilitates growth. Steven Covey says, “In the long run, if it isn’t win-win, we both lose. That’s why win-win is the only alternative in interdependent realities.”
Howard: I have to look for what is good for you. Another example I have is from the client side. We had grown from a 2 million dollar marketing expense to 40 million in 3 years. And, similar to the CBS example, I just wanted them to cover me. So we had a margin agreement where we would make the same margin so we could do the right thing, and my CEO hated that initially. However, after a little bit he saw how beneficial the agreement was to the growth of the company. So everybody wins.
Measuring Alignment
Brantley: The fourth key to partnership is measuring alignment. One of the things to think through is this: What are we going to measure? How are we going to measure it? Being upfront about those things is critical to success. Anytime you have a business goal you need to define success and agree upon how and what you are going to measure that success by. If that isn’t standardized on the front end, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Howard: This point ties in directly with vision. Apple and Nike wanted to come together to expand their global reach and they are measuring alignment with the amount of miles logged. Last month, Apple and Nike logged over 50 million miles of fitness activity last month. So the front end agreement is working — you can test it back to the original vivid description.
Brantley: Are there any pitfalls that you would warn against not measuring from an alignment perspective?
Howard: One is transparent, that’s really important. If you haven't been transparent and you are measuring something on the side, that would be a problem. And, if you don’t measure anything, you can’t tell what’s going wrong. The pitfalls are either not measuring or measuring something that doesn’t matter and isn’t aligned with your partners.
Brantley: Does Jesus care about measuring alignment?
Howard: He does, absolutely. The biggest commission he gives is to go and make disciples. Go to the ends of the earth. First in Jerusalem and then it spreads to the ends of the earth. You see quickly in the next chapter of Acts that 3 thousand people come to know the Lord that day. We call that day Pentecost.
So it’s good to measure, as long as it’s the right thing. David got in trouble for measuring the wrong thing. However, in any task God has given us, the fruit we bear is proof that it is working.
Brantley: In a crazy and mysterious way, our Father and Jesus include us as His partner in the great commission. That foundation is why we think partnerships are awesome! If the King of the world wants His mission accomplished through partnerships, then why can’t we do the same in our daily work? Partnerships can look different, but if any of the 4 keys that we mentioned stick out to you, we want to talk to you because your partnership with us is why we are here.
Resources
Audio Transcript
We accomplish nothing alone. Partnerships are part of being human. Yes, we are designed for partnership, but how do we know when we should partner with others and what factors make for a good partnership? Listen as Brantley and Howard discuss what organizations and individuals should consider when they evaluate partnership opportunities.
Brantley: In our last podcast, we talked a lot about jobs — what makes a good job, job satisfaction, and the current way we evaluate jobs. We were made to work with the unique gifts of others to meet people’s needs.
Howard: Yes, God makes us, saves us, and puts us to work. There is no shortage of needs to meet, but we cannot do it alone.
Brantley: Does that mean we are designed for partnership?
Howard: Yes, it does. From the very beginning, what have you ever done on your own?
Brantley: I’ve hit a hole in one before.
Howard: By yourself?
Brantley: No, but it was my stroke.
Howard: Were you with other people? How old were you?
Brantley: Yeah, I was with some people. I don’t know. This is a bad example.
Howard: You really did it. Yet, how much fun would it have been alone?
Brantley: Well, no one would believe me because my golf game is terrible.
Howard: Without the other people it would have been a little less meaningful.
Brantley: Yeah, so let’s get into our topic for today. Today we are talking about partnerships. Howard, tell us what it means to be designed for partnership.
Howard: From the very beginning, God shows us that He exists in a partnership. In Genesis it says, “Let us make man in our image.” The partnership of the trinity was not plan B. Jesus was there from the beginning. They created man and woman in their image to subdue creation on their behalf. Before sin entered, God created a human partner for Adam — Eve. So God exists in partnership and He created us to be partners with Him and each other to do good work.
Brantley: Ok, so we are designed for good work, but how do we know when and why to partner in our work?
Howard: Even something as small as a golf game involves people cutting the grass and tending to the fields. When you see a need that needs to be fixed, but you lack the resources or gifts to meet it, you need to partner. No one can fully meet anyone's needs on their own. Joining forces allows you to do more good together.
Brantley: A lot of this is just understanding that we are all made differently with different gifts and we need different types of people to accomplish things. For example, I’m terrible with details and I need detail oriented people to help me. We may all have the same goal, but we might get there differently.
Howard: Absolutely, one person makes up what can happen. Another person has to literally add it up.
Brantley: Yeah, I would be terrible at buying the media for an agency. We need people who are just as talented as we are, but who have different gifts, so that we can effectively work together towards the same goal.
Howard: Exactly, and it’s so much more enjoyable to do it together!
Vision Alignment
Brantley: Yeah, it really is. We have four keys to successful partnerships that we want to discuss. The first one is vision alignment. Do you have a relevant example for this that you want to hit on?
Howard: If you ask some people what a partnership is, many people will say it’s an agreement between people. However, before you enter an agreement you must be aligned on the vision for the good you are seeking to do. That’s going to make an enormous difference.
The day of this podcast the Masters is being played. The Masters is a 67 year old partnership with CBS. There is an alpha partner, but every year they make a one year agreement to do business. That doesn't mean they haven't made enormous investments. Their vision is for the local patrons of the event and all televised and digital to have a great experience. And, they’ve done such a good job that it’s raised the production quality of all other golf events. It makes people want to play golf. More people play golf the week after the Masters because they see how enjoyable the sport is. CBS and the Masters are so aligned with their vision that they keep going back to each other to keep the partnership going.
Brantley: For those pursuing Jesus’ vision for their life, how does Jesus inform this key? In other words, how does Jesus inform and impact our vision alignment?
Howard: That’s a great question and here’s the vision for the whole thing: John 15:5-8 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
Amazing! I’ve learned from Harvard, McKinsey, and many other business leadership journals that you need your vision to be vivid. These verses give us an incredibly vivid vision. We stay connected to our source, and when we stay connected to God, ask whatever you wish! Is this like Santa Clause? No, it means that you are so connected that you know what to ask for.
Gifts And Needs Alignment
Brantley: The second key to a successful partnership is gifts and needs alignment. I hit on this a little bit with my career, but this ties in heavily with last week’s podcast especially. Personally, I am continuing to learn what this means. I’m learning what it means to work with a diverse group of people with different strengths and weaknesses, and where those strengths or weaknesses get coached, grown or enabled. Specifically, in the marketing space, there are all the types of subject matter experts that are needed to effectively accomplish a single goal. With the work I am doing right now, we are helping products win on Amazon. There are really small creative levers that can be pulled and I am not the right person to pull those levers, but as a group we can pull those levers and test how well it worked. For me, it’s freeing to be a part of a team.
Howard: Yeah, you have your partnership with Amazon, but within the office you are partners with all your coworkers to meet those needs.
We have a great diagram of what an ideal job looks like — it’s in the resources at the bottom of the podcast. Nothing creates alignment quite like the needs you are meeting as a team. When everyone can name the need you are meeting, it builds unity. Then each person realizes their gifts and how they can use their gifts toward that need together. Teamwork enables everyone to keep going.
In this way, we should view partnerships similarly to how we view jobs.
Value Alignment
Brantley: The third key is value alignment. Howard, do you want to take this one?
Howard: Yes, when you don't see the world the same or care about the same needs of the world, the partnership is going to quickly become misaligned. So the values that are listed in this week’s article — Designed For Partnership — are important. These are not all the values that are important, but here are some of them. First, the value of abundance. You need to see the world as having plenty of resources for everyone. If you don’t, it’s easy to start holding out on each other.
An example of abundance in a partnership we used recently was Apple and Nike. So far this is a 12 year partnership and it’s even helped align their boards. Tim Cook now sits on the board as a lead outside director for Nike. They wanted to reach people globally, so they increased their reach by partnering — instead of trying to do it all by themselves. At the end of the day, somebody owns the app and somebody owns the physical technology, but they get to partner together to serve more customers.
Another value is mutual benefit. The partnership has to benefit everybody. In the best partnerships you are looking out for the needs of others. Asking yourself, “What does my partner need to succeed?” CBS is definitely not the alpha partner, but in the end there is mutual benefit for all parties. According to Golf Digest, at the end of the tournament CBS presents the bill and the Masters pays it. It’s a one year agreement that they will cover it. The thought is that CBS will spend however much it takes to make the tournament great, and the Masters will cover the cost.
Brantley: Just in terms of partnership, we started off this podcast with the premise that work is better together; therefore, it is helpful to know what we are trying to accomplish together and what is good for all parties. It’s helpful to start there because what I’m going through now is I have a friend who is going to do some consulting for our company. Some of this work will take place after hours. For me that is helpful, but I was concerned that it might not be good for him. So I asked him about it and he said that he enjoyed this type of work so much that he would be doing it during those hours anyways, and now he gets paid some money for it. This is a super simplistic example of mutual benefit.
Howard: So good. I learned this early in my career when I was working at a loan company in Nashville. We had a company we worked with who literally did not charge us enough. So I asked them to charge us more so that they could hire more support staff to handle the workload. I was the first, and probably only, person who asked them to charge more.
Brantley: In terms of integrity and transparency, when you are considering other people’s values and aligning with them correctly, we think this facilitates growth. Steven Covey says, “In the long run, if it isn’t win-win, we both lose. That’s why win-win is the only alternative in interdependent realities.”
Howard: I have to look for what is good for you. Another example I have is from the client side. We had grown from a 2 million dollar marketing expense to 40 million in 3 years. And, similar to the CBS example, I just wanted them to cover me. So we had a margin agreement where we would make the same margin so we could do the right thing, and my CEO hated that initially. However, after a little bit he saw how beneficial the agreement was to the growth of the company. So everybody wins.
Measuring Alignment
Brantley: The fourth key to partnership is measuring alignment. One of the things to think through is this: What are we going to measure? How are we going to measure it? Being upfront about those things is critical to success. Anytime you have a business goal you need to define success and agree upon how and what you are going to measure that success by. If that isn’t standardized on the front end, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Howard: This point ties in directly with vision. Apple and Nike wanted to come together to expand their global reach and they are measuring alignment with the amount of miles logged. Last month, Apple and Nike logged over 50 million miles of fitness activity last month. So the front end agreement is working — you can test it back to the original vivid description.
Brantley: Are there any pitfalls that you would warn against not measuring from an alignment perspective?
Howard: One is transparent, that’s really important. If you haven't been transparent and you are measuring something on the side, that would be a problem. And, if you don’t measure anything, you can’t tell what’s going wrong. The pitfalls are either not measuring or measuring something that doesn’t matter and isn’t aligned with your partners.
Brantley: Does Jesus care about measuring alignment?
Howard: He does, absolutely. The biggest commission he gives is to go and make disciples. Go to the ends of the earth. First in Jerusalem and then it spreads to the ends of the earth. You see quickly in the next chapter of Acts that 3 thousand people come to know the Lord that day. We call that day Pentecost.
So it’s good to measure, as long as it’s the right thing. David got in trouble for measuring the wrong thing. However, in any task God has given us, the fruit we bear is proof that it is working.
Brantley: In a crazy and mysterious way, our Father and Jesus include us as His partner in the great commission. That foundation is why we think partnerships are awesome! If the King of the world wants His mission accomplished through partnerships, then why can’t we do the same in our daily work? Partnerships can look different, but if any of the 4 keys that we mentioned stick out to you, we want to talk to you because your partnership with us is why we are here.
Resources