Power of 2: How to Make the Most of Your Partnerships at Work and in Life

Over the past two decades, Gallup has conducted exhaustive research on human nature and productivity in the workplace. In "Power of 2," Gallup executives Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller share the secrets of a successful partnership based on their groundbreaking research on collaboration. If you want to have a great partnership, then this book was written for you. Wagner and Muller detail the eight elements required for partners to succeed - complementary strength, common mission, fairness, trust, acceptance, forgiveness, communicating, and unselfishness. They also weave rich histories of successful collaborations - Utah Jazz greats Karl Malone and John Stockton, Disney's Michael Eisner and Frank Wells, Orville and Wilbur Wright (who won the flip of the coin to fly first?), John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and many more - throughout the book to underscore key learnings "If you want to have great partnerships, be a great partner. Get beyond yourself. Give up the notion that you are well-rounded, and stop expecting your colleagues to be universally proficient. Incorporate someone else's motivations into your view of the accomplishment. Loosen up. Put aside your competitive nature, your prepackaged view of how the thing should be done, and your desire not to be inconvenienced with the imperfections of a fellow human being. Focus more on what you do for the partnership than what you get from it. Demonstrate trust in more people, and see if they don't surprise you with their trustworthiness. Be slower to anger and quicker to forgive. And along the way, communicate continuously." I have had numerous successful collaborations throughout my life and can attest to the positive role they have played in my life. We were made for collaboration. If you have not yet experienced how marvelous collaboration can be, you are missing an opportunity for incredible things - discovering special relationships, finding greater strength in yourself, increasing your happiness, achieving greater heights than you thought attainable, and most importantly, experiencing something beyond self. Wagner and Muller provide an excellent road map for taking this "road less traveled."

Power of 2 is a wonderful book which serves as a reminder to value, individualize and reinforce both work partnerships, as well as, social partnerships. With Gallup's research to back up the content, it's a great recipe for reinforcing, or even creating, successful relationships with others. My favorite message in the book is the emphasis placed on the idea that no one individual is great at everything, but we should celebrate our individual strengths, and partner with those who compliment us and make the partnership well-rounded, not the individual. Great book!

I found this book hard to put down. What struck me immediately is the application of the Power of 2 not only to work situations bu to life in general. Loved the great stories using real people. Read it.

The Power of 2 is a wonderful mix of research, stories and practical guidance to improve the partnerships in anyone's life. This is a book for all. The themes presented to strengthen partnerships can be applied to business, social, and marital relationships and can even be applied to your relationship with your children. Gallup research shows that there are eight elements of a powerful partnership; complementary strengths, common mission, fairness, trust, acceptance, forgiveness, communicating and unselfishness. Rodd Wagner (the author of the bestselling 12: The Elements of Great Managing) and Gale Muller write in a wonderful style that brings to life through stories and real life examples the findings of this research and provides glimpses into powerful partnerships like Michael Eisner and Frank Wells of Disney; Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft who crossed 1,7 78 miles of Antarctica in 97 days; Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman and Amod Tversky in their study of decision making and Karl Malone and John Stockton of the Utah Jazz professional basketball team. If you are interested in reaching excellence in your partnerships this is the book for you.

Gallup's earlier books helped me be more cognizant of the differences in people within the workplace as well without. It is amazing how much better one can interact with people when you understand the differences in the individuals' strengths. In Power of 2, Wagner and Muller focus Gallup's strengths research on the issue of improving partnerships. There is a lot to be learned here to help maximize your partnerships, understand who brings what to the table, and how you can use that knowledge to drive productivity and collaboration. It is an enjoyable read with clever analogies, humorous examples, and sage advice.