I’ve always had a fascination with bridges and have just recently discovered how instructive they can be about what it takes to develop long lasting and strong business relationships.  Not only are the analogies with bridges seemingly endless, but they also conjure creativity, passages and adventure. Thank you for joining me in this adventure into what bridges can teach us about constructing solid, profitable, enduring business relationships.

business insight from the world’s most celebrated bridges – a series

What is a bridge?  In its physical form, it’s a path to get from point A to point B, and is typically constructed to solve for an obstacle (water way, ravine, busy highway, unstable ground) that otherwise was obstructing the direct path. It provides efficiency and safe passage. The nonphysical bridge between two parties operates much the same way, except that there are typically multiple obstacles and the path is anything but linear. For simplicity and more interesting history, this series will focus on physical bridges.

Now for a couple more foundational notes:  Analogies and metaphors from the stories of famous international bridges will be made to inform on a variety of types of business development in this series. With more than 20 years experience in developing business for all manner of value in an organization (revenue, distribution, attribution, sponsorship, shared customer engagement, community building, etc.), I will generally refer to the activities as business partnerships.

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Research sources vary and include:
Dupre?, Judith. Bridges. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 1997. Print.
Images not credited are in the public domain.