The one where you work with an old friend

‘Never work with children or animals,’ said actor W.C. Fields (apparently). Because they’ll steal the show.

Another maxim could be: never work with family or friends. Not because you’ll be upstaged. But you’ll likely fall out, never speak again, be ostracised by your social group, written out of wills and die an unhappy and lonely death. And that’s the optimistic version.

I spent the summer working with a very old friend Tom Hopkins. We’ve known each other since university. Back then, not only did we spend hours together working on his four-track machine trying to create musical masterpieces that would change the course of the world* but we also spent almost as much time working on the university newspaper Epigram.

When I told Tom about YumTuc and discovered he had a break between jobs, I’m not sure if he offered, I begged or both, but he agreed to build the app.

He’s written a sensible account of it here. Here are my less sensible thoughts on working with friends:

1. You know what to expect

People can have personality transplants. But, generally, we don’t change radically over time. So Tom and I knew what we were in for when working together. I can’t speak for him, but I wasn’t surprised (in a bad way) by anything that happened.

There’s a shorthand between old friends that removes extraneous stuff. It’s like a language you both speak fluently which skims a few layers from the social interactions cake† and means you’re much quicker at making decisions. And, in turn, more productive.

3. You can say (pretty much) anything

Of course, this won’t work for everyone. But Tom and I found there wasn’t much we couldn’t express to each other. That’s not to suggest we ever went full Gordon Ramsay. But whenever I suggested something idiotic, Tom would tell me. And vice versa. (Which happened a lot less often.)

4. You break normal working time directives

Again, probably not best practice but certain boundaries are, inevitably, removed between friends. Which is why we exchanged WhatsApp messages at some fairly unsocial times. I instigated most (but not all!) of them and know Tom would have told me if they’d driven him (too) mad and I’d have stopped. At least until the next morning.

5. But don’t unsettle others

We all know what it’s like to play gooseberry.** The same applies when you bring others into the conversation. Tom built the app singlehandedly. But at various points during the process, we engaged other people – and, at times, I was conscious I’d reverted to ‘normal’, not ‘old friend’ mode. Which was right. But also illustrates the level of comfort and support old friends provide.

So, unlike W.C. Fields, I’ll happily work with children, animals, friends or family. Just not all at once.

Join YumTuc on the App Store/Google Play by clicking here.

* Spoiler alert: they didn’t.

† No, I don’t really know what that means either.

** Unless it’s just me.