Heard Of Dyads

This is a bit like the guy who goes into the music store and is looking for a particular song but can't remember the artist, title, or quite how it goes... but...

Back in the early '90's I remember reading a very interesting article about teambuilding that was based on the idea that all teams are built up from various pairs of individuals who work well together. The author reported on observations in many different corporate and industrial settings. He observed that there were always pairs of people who reached a level of connection that allowed them to achieve more than the two of them could achieve individually. They also stimulated the forming of teams around them, almost like seeds in a super-saturated solution stimulate the forming of crystals.

He called these dynamic pairs "dyads."

Now I am struck by two things:

1. How similar this idea is to PairProgramming
2. How I can't remember any specifics about where I actually read the article or who the author was

My research so far is turning up lots of people using the term dyad, but not in this way.

Can anyone out there in WikiSpace provide me with a clue to reinforce my failing memory? Is this use of dyad common in psychology (organizational or otherwise)? Is anyone familiar with similar studies or theories? (And can anyone tell me where I left my keys last night? <g>) -- BillBarnett