Contrary to conventional wisdom, opposites do not attract. They detract. They repel.
But what if the person who is least like you is the person you need most?
I learned this the hard way.
I once led a project with a $30M budget, and it failed miserably because my co-leader and the team were too much like me.
Later, my budget was cut to $6M, and I was given a co-leader who was my opposite. We created magic.
Not at first. In the beginning, there was conflict.
But once we started to appreciate what each of us brought to the table, everything changed.
We succeeded, not in spite of our differences, but because of them.
Too often, we surround ourselves with people who think like we do.
That may feel comfortable, but it rarely leads to breakthrough thinking.
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The image was generated by NotebookLM from the manuscript for You’re Not Playing with a Full Deck.