Jun 2, 2005

Siamese twins - jobwise?

For six years, we shared a job at Fleet Bank: vice president, global markets
foreign exchange. One desk, one chair, one computer, one telephone, and one
voice-mail account. We had—still have—one résumé.
- HBS Working Knowledge
Cynthia R. Cunningham and Shelley S. Murray shared an executive position for six years in the Foreign Exchange Group at Fleet Bank (formerly BankBoston). They are currently taking a hiatus from professional banking to share their story through writing and speaking opportunities. They plan on pursuing a joint career.

When I read that I almost dropped my coffee on my keyboard (thank goodness there was no coffee left!). The first thought, sometimes executive egos are bigger than the job description, so how can two executives do one job?

What the article describes are how two executives went ahead and refused to let their work life balance suffer. The take away?

You have to have to be able to challenge 'assumed' notions about jobs
Understanding your job-twin is critical
Bringing complementary skills (and I suspect, viewpoints and thought processes) would be easier for an hiring manager to make this decision.
No data given on the nature of the salary, but I am sure they split one salary between them, rather than the organization giving them two salaries which was effectively one job.

This made me think. Would I ever be a job-twin with somebody? There are some people I have worked beautifully on projects...but would I work with them on my job...? I am not sure.

What about you?

1 comment:

  1. Did they split the hours they worked also? I dont see how they shared one chair and one computer otherwise :). if they split hours or worked alternately this is nothing new since shift workers who take over from other workers in the manufacturing industry share the same workspace.

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