Businesses. Hobbies. Personal relationships. They’re all the same in this vein. It is possible to ‘know the life out of’ them.
Sometimes, when I start work with a founder, they are so clever about their work, and so familiar with how the business runs and ‘is’ – they’re strangling it. It’s stagnant. There’s no magic. No flair. No adventure. No daring, cheeky, mischievous and interesting part at all. Of course, this results in a degree of solidity – but a business like this is actually quite dull to be around. And it’s hard for customers to build vibrant, ongoing relationship with a business like that.
To ‘know the life out of a partner’ has the same effect. ‘Bit boring. And if every time we played golf or pool we knew exactly how we’d perform, we’d get bored with that too.
It is possible to ‘know the life out of’ something. Literally. So if you really are too clever for your own good, bring in someone dafter that you are, to help you get the life back. Maybe someone much, much dafter. Someone like me.