Dear Bob ... My partner and I run a two-person consulting business. We've been friends for a long time, which is part of the problem: For the past year, I've been carrying far more of the workload than "Fred" (not his real name). Fred refuses to acknowledge the problem, claiming that he works just as hard as I do. It's very hard for either of us to look at this objectively. I will tell you that when we work toge Dear Bob …My partner and I run a two-person consulting business. We’ve been friends for a long time, which is part of the problem: For the past year, I’ve been carrying far more of the workload than “Fred” (not his real name).Fred refuses to acknowledge the problem, claiming that he works just as hard as I do. It’s very hard for either of us to look at this objectively. I will tell you that when we work together on an engagement, I’m the one who’s always looking for another person to interview, worrying about whether we’ve covered all the bases, and in general making sure we’ve done everything that’s possible to do. To be fair (or as fair as I can), Fred handles more of the actual writing and PowerPoint work than I do, but I don’t think that makes up for all the effort (and worrying) that I do up front.So my question is, how do we keep our partnership going? Or should we just go our separate ways (which would mean figuring out a fair way to divide our client list).– Hatin’ life (and Fred) Dear Hatin’ …My best advice is to hire a marriage counselor.Well, not really, but someone who will fulfill roughly the same function. My guess is that none of the issues you raised are the issues you need to resolve. It’s very common in a partnership that each partner starts to devalue the other person’s contributions. The same thing often happens in a marriage – how many couples have had huge fights because the wage earner thinks he or she deserves to relax after a trying day at the office, while the homemaker thinks the same thing after cleaning the house and chasing after several small children? I don’t know which takes more effort: Your client-facing activities and perfectionism or your partner’s focus on turning your collective knowledge and insights into a compelling story. Nor do I know whether the amount of effort is even the right measure.So I’d advise you to hire a professional facilitator to help the two of you sort out your expectations of what’s a reasonable division of labor, and how the two of you are able to succeed better than either of you could succeed on your own.It’s entirely possible that you are contributing a lot more than Fred. If you’re unable to move beyond that perception, valid or otherwise, then dissolve the partnership earlier rather than later. It will only get worse. But first, get some help to move your perception outside yourself to a more objective view of the situation.BTW: This situation isn’t restricted to business partnerships. It’s very common for similar conflicts to arise in business workgroups, where some team members start to feel that they’re carrying an unfair share of the workload. The same suggestion applies here: Workgroups sometimes need outside help in making sure that (1) there is a fair division of labor; and (2) everyone in the workgroup perceives the division of labor to be fair.– Bob ——– Technology Industry