When teaming up with someone for a collaborative project, it’s worth remembering that whilst you can get everything looking good on paper… personality types will play a major part in determining how successful your collaboration is.

You’ve likely heard the adages: “Birds of a feather flock together” which implies an introvert is best suited to pairing up with another introvert.

But you may also have heard “Opposites attract” which suggests you might be better of finding an extrovert to balance things out.

The truth is… there is no one best suited personality pairing. There are so many other factors, including the other 3 Myers-Briggs functions (Intuitive/Sensing, Feeling/Thinking, Judging/Perceiving) as well as a host of other personality type factors other typologies offer.

But there are some key pairings that are worth considering and discussing with your partner before undertaking a big collaboration.

Introvert/Extrovert

The advantage of this pairing is in the social availability of your extroverted partner. If your collaboration needs to get out into the wider world, whether you’re looking for publicity, investment or customers: the extrovert is going to be your mouthpiece and handle (even enjoy) meeting with actual people to talk about your project.

In my collaboration with Théa Anderson, an ENFJ, we quickly found each others strengths and weaknesses, and began to adapt our task list to suit each others preferences. For example, in researching logistics and contacts for a live event, we both agreed to split up and tackle the task from two angles: Théa the extrovert would arrange meetings and talk face-to-face with our contacts to gather information, and I the introvert would consult with my good friend: the world wide web.

Together, we could collect qualitative data from Thea’s conversations, and quantative data, from my chats with Google.com

If I had paired with another introvert, we may have struggled to get feedback and advice from real people, and find ourselves fighting over who got to design the event flyers vs. talk to the press.

Intuitive/Sensing

Intuitives tend to be the big thinkers: best in generating ideas and imagining possibilities. This is incredibly valuable in birthing a collaborative project, and is likely to be the source of the original ideas that make it a unique and exciting venture.

But… what an intuitive lacks is attention to detail; a groundedness in the reality of the physical world. This is where the Sensing type comes into their own. Combined, the pair can consider both the big picture and the practical details as well as being aware of the present and the future.

This is an area where me and Théa are lacking: both of us are intuitive types, and revel in big picture dreaming. Without our combined Judging functions (which make us determined to get things done) and my well-developed Thinking function (which prefers logic over fairness) we likely wouldn’t have pulled off our first event.

Since then, we’ve further involved a new collaborator: a Sensing type, who is startlingly good at bringing our lofty ideas back down to earth. Whilst this can feel like a bit of a ‘downer’ for the dreamers, it’s a very welcome and necessary part in the growth and success of any new idea.

If you’re collaborative project is something new to both you and your partner, consider carefully this pairing. If you can, an Intuitive and a Sensing type combo works best with new projects that need both the benefit of blue-sky thinking as well as practicality to get things off the ground.

However, if this is a project that is tried-and-true, or something you’ve had experience in before, and you’re an Intuitive, you could probably work with another Intuitive (or if you’re a Sensing type, bring on an Intuitive type to help break things out of the box.)

Feeling/Thinking

This is a pairing that, if unmanaged from the start, could cause major ripples in your project’s success. For a Thinking type, avoiding conflict is key: this is why they resort to reason and logic wherever possible - even if it means sweeping issues that should be discussed under the rug.

A Feeling type who doesn’t understand this is going to feel shut down and unheard; further aggravating any disagreements.

Both Thinkers and Feeling types need to find a way to communicate and come to agreements that take into account their preferences.

Other than that, this pair can work very well together: as long as their values are aligned.

Judging/Perceiving

In starting a project and encouraging new ideas, a Perceiver is a wonderful asset to any team. However, if this is something you want to finish at some point… you’ll likely want a Judging type to be around too.

A Judging type will help keep a project on track and following systems, but may step back when you’re testing new ideas that only exist in theory. Much like the Sensing/Intuitive combo, this is a pairing that works best when you have the chalk/cheese mix.

Note that all of these pairings are much more subtle than any personality quiz (or I) can offer. The real test is in diving in, exploring each others limits and superpowers, and working out from there what your project best needs.