5 Birth Month Duos Who Should Never Work Together
You can adore someone over lunch and discover, forty minutes into a shared task, that working together was a terrible idea. These five birth-month duos bring out each other’s most exasperating work habits. One wants to get started. The other has questions. Both are convinced they’re being helpful.
January & June
January, you thought the brainstorming meeting was over because everyone left it. You wrote down the decision. You assigned the tasks. June has since had a better idea in the elevator, another while getting lunch, and a third that would be quite simple if you started the entire project again.
The irritating part is that some of these ideas are good. You can’t dismiss them, which means you have to explain, again, why a good idea arriving on Thursday isn’t necessarily helpful for something due Friday. June hears you defending a plan just because it’s the plan. You hear June volunteering everyone for an evening they hadn’t agreed to work. By the next meeting, you’ve added “FINAL DECISION” to the agenda. June arrives delighted that there’s still a decision to discuss.
April & August
April and August can agree on what needs to happen and still disagree about who gets to steer. April likes to get moving as soon as an idea feels right. August wants a real say in how it comes together, especially when their name will be attached to the result.
April thinks they’re showing initiative. August wonders when initiative became permission to decide for both of them. Meanwhile, August’s suggestions can sound like instructions to April, who was perfectly happy taking charge five minutes ago.
Neither is short on enthusiasm or confidence. That’s part of the problem. Ask who’s leading, and they’ll both answer.
May & February
May has a system that works. February would like to know whether anyone has considered replacing it. May can already feel how long this conversation is going to take.
May likes knowing how something works and being able to get on with it. February gets excited about what could work better. A familiar routine feels dependable to May and overdue for an update to February.
The trouble starts when February wants to experiment with something May considers settled. May hears extra work. February hears resistance before they’ve even finished explaining. By the time February says, “This could save us so much time,” May has already finished doing it the old way.
July & November
July and November can spot the same problem and have completely different ideas about how to bring it up. July thinks about how the words will land. November wants to make sure the point gets across.
July believes people listen better when they feel appreciated. November believes a clear answer is a kindness of its own. Neither wants to hurt anyone, but July can find November unnecessarily blunt, while November wishes July would stop softening a point they both agree with.
Ask them to give feedback together and they’ll spend longer discussing the wording than the work. July adds, “There’s a lot to like here.” November agrees. They still want the next sentence to say what needs changing.
September & December
The file is ready, according to December, who has opened the email and typed “Please find attached.” September is still inside it, adjusting the spacing on page four. Nothing is attached yet.
September, you get satisfaction from knowing the details are right. December gets satisfaction from finishing something and moving on. You notice what could still be improved; December notices that it already does what it needs to do.
Neither of you thinks you’re asking for much. You want another few minutes. December wants “another few minutes” to mean it this time. When you finally say it’s ready, they send it before you can add “although.”