Life is full of partnerships, both professional and personal. Some thrive, leading to breakthrough work and fulfilling relationships. Others fail to accomplish their mission or even become hostile. Over the past two decades, Gallup has conducted exhaustive research on human nature and productivity in the workplace. Gallup research shows that those who have one or more strong partnerships at work generate better customer scores, safety, retention, creativity, productivity, and profitability for their companies. They are also happier. Having just one solid partnership markedly increases a person's well-being over those who have none.

Five years of in-depth Gallup research into collaboration has culminated in Power of 2: How to Make the Most of Your Partnerships at Work and in Life. The authors draw on their own research as well as studies of monkeys, computer gaming, revenge, and self-sacrifice to uncover the blueprint for creating successful partnerships. The book is a wonderful mix of research, stories and practical guidance to improve the partnerships in anyone's life

Power of 2 examines the eight crucial elements of a successful partnership: complementary strengths, a common mission, fairness, trust, acceptance, forgiveness, communicating, and unselfishness.  "Great partnerships don't just happen," write Wagner and Muller. "Whether your joint mission is to build a successful company, coach a team, improve the government, do something spectacular for a charity, or any other worthy goal, all successful partnerships share the same crucial ingredients."

Complementary Strengths

One of the most powerful reasons for teaming up is working with someone who is strong where you are weak, and vice versa. A successful partnership can be defined as two people who each recognize their own exceptional abilities, as well as acknowledge their personal weaknesses, and then team up with someone whose strengths complement their own.

A Common Mission

No partnership can survive without a shared goal, a common mission to work toward. While the partners' motives may vary, the desired end goal must be mutual.

Fairness

From the early stages of childhood, we understand and have a need for fairness. Just as fairness mattered when deciding who got to ride in the front seat or who got first pick of the kickball team, our intrinsic need for fairness cannot be ignored when working in a partnership. 

Trust

Working with someone means taking risks. If the partnership lacks trust, one partner is left constantly second-guessing the other, making the team highly inefficient and ultimately unsuccessful. 

Acceptance

Whenever two disparate personalities come together, there is bound to be a certain friction from their differences. Partners must learn how to focus on each other's strengths, accept each other's weaknesses, and understand when the other partner makes a mistake.

Forgiveness

People make mistakes. Without forgiveness, acceptance turns to ridicule, attempts at fairness are replaced with feelings of entitlement, and the relationship becomes riddled with mistrust and thoughts of revenge.

Communicating

This component of a partnership is critical, both on a functional level and in the sense that open communication implies a level of trust between partners. Candid communication and willingness to share your half-baked ideas lets your partner know that you trust him and are fully on board with the partnership.

Unselfishness

While most people enter into partnerships for selfish reasons, a truly powerful partnership becomes wholly unselfish. In the best relationships, partners are equally as satisfied seeing their partner succeed as they would be with their own success, willing to take a significant risk for their partner, and able to view their partner as a brother or sister. 

Wagner and Muller illustrate the power of collaboration with examples of some of history's most compelling partnerships -- how Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard used the flip of a coin to decide whose name would come first in the company logo; how the constant communication between Francis Crick and James D. Watson cracked the code of DNA; and how Karl Malone and John Stockton became one of the most successful pairs in NBA history through the combination of their complementary strengths.

Power of 2 is a fascinating look at partnership at its best and worst as well as a primer for unleashing the power of collaboration in any type of organization.