About a year ago, I visited a factory in Los Angeles. Although the jeans made there were fashionable and pricy, they were not what impressed me the most. One manager and one engineer walked through the whole factory with me, while introducing the job functions of each key members in the office and the information system they work with. A manager and an engineer are teamed up for projects, and above them, there is a senior manager to oversee the whole issue. I didn't ask how a manager and an engineer are chosen to become a team. I mean, how to know two people from two different perspectives are compatible before they even start working together? Believing in your guts?
Whatsoever, the trick seems working pretty well. The manager and the engineer I met were working quite closely. The former handles paperwork and presentations to the higher management level; and the latter deals with daily problems and workfloor operators. Their ultimate goal is both driving for improvements at work from different perspectives. I couldn't tell who is working for whom, or who is whose boss at the time of my visit, as they work like friends, like ping-to-the-pong..
I once fantisized working closly with someone else from another perspective. I can manage the dirty work and daily eruption on one side, and he/she manages the pressure from above. But you know what, I am missing a partner. A good one.
