Divergent Pair

When it comes to creativity the best person for the job is often two people - people who see the world in utterly different ways. --JerryHirshberg?, NissanDesignInternational?

There is an interesting article about NDI and their practice of hiring DivergentPairs at http://www.fastcompany.com/online/12/rftf.html . -- YonatSharon

Neat, although one unspoken assumption is that the two people have to be at the same level. This would be difficult if one was, say, the boss of the other. --SteveFreeman

I've done WritingInPairs with several bosses who were very different from me. Works great. It goes better than many other aspects of the relationship -- i.e. I've had a boss with whom I could write presentations, difficult emails, etc. even when other parts of the relationship stopped working. I assume PairProgramming would be similar. -- LisaDusseault

I worked with a small group of people where one of the best things about them was the ability to rip apart each other's ideas, but yet we would all go eat lunch together or have a beer and be friends. Having the different points of view made our ultimate design much stronger. At the same time, we all had a very strong common view of our ultimate goal.

Having the different points of view is not limited to just pairs. The group of people as a whole must bring in many different ways of looking at a project. This way no matter who you are paired with, or even if you don't use pairs, you still have the benefit of different points of view.

Unfortunately, putting together a group that has different points of view, but yet can get along well enough to use this to a useful end if a difficult task. A different point of view with an overly strong or overly weak ego can ruin the chemistry. The overly weak person doesn't contribute and create the friction necessary. The overly strong person doesn't know when to stop and creates hostility between the people. -- DanOelke

I think this might relate to my observation on ArguingThroughUnitTests - you can improve how people get on by working on the rules of engagement -- TimMackinnon