Business Core · Partners · Module
Partner selection
Deciding who to work with, and on what basis. Most partnership failures are selection failures that management could not fix afterwards.
The idea
How it works
Partnerships are usually selected on availability and enthusiasm, which are the two qualities least predictive of how they perform. Capability and incentive alignment predict much better and are harder to assess.
The question worth asking early is what the partner gets from the arrangement working well. If the honest answer is “not much once the contract is signed”, no governance structure will compensate.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
Define what the partnership is for
A capability you lack, a market you cannot reach, a cost you cannot carry alone. If it is none of these, the case is weaker than it looks.
- 02
Check incentive alignment
What does the partner gain from your success specifically, rather than from the contract existing?
- 03
Assess capability against the actual work
Reference calls about a different kind of engagement tell you very little.
- 04
Consider the alternative honestly
Building, buying or doing without. Partnering is a choice, and often the one taken by default.
One level in
The components of partner selection
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
The due diligence record
What was checked — capability, financial position, references on comparable work.
Learn
Ask what the partner gains from your success specifically. If the honest answer is “not much”, governance will not fix it.
The other modules in partners
The agreement
What each side commits to, in writing, including what happens when it stops working. The last part is the one most often left out.
LearnGovernance
How the partnership is run day to day: who talks to whom, how decisions are made, and how problems escalate before they become disputes.
LearnValue review
A periodic honest assessment of whether the partnership is still worth what it costs — including the cost of managing it.
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