The entrepreneur Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Opsware and currently…

The entrepreneur Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Opsware and currently a venture capitalist, found himself confronted several years ago with a management problem. Two outstanding departments at a company he managed Customer Support and Sales Engineering-were at loggerheads. Sales Engineering accused Customer Support of not responding promptly enough to customers, thereby hampering sales. Customer Support accused Sales Engineering of writing defective code and ignoring their suggestions for improvement. Obviously it was essential the two departments work closely together. Considered separately, both were well managed and superbly staffed. Appealing to them to try and see things from each other's perspective accomplished little, but then Horowitz had an idea. He made the head of Customer Support the head of Sales Engineering-and vice versa. Not temporarily, mind you. Permanently. Both were initially horrified, but a week after stepping into their antagonist's shoes they had got to the bottom of the conflict. Over the following weeks they adjusted their operations, and from then on the two departments cooperated better than any others at the firm.

— from Leadership & Business (Leadership/Business) · Art of the Good Life: Clear Thinking for Business and a Better Life by Rolf Dobelli

In the book

When two excellent departments at one of Ben Horowitz's companies were at war, appeals to "see it from the other side" did nothing — so he permanently swapped their two leaders. A week in each other's shoes ended the feud, and from then on they cooperated better than any other pair in the firm. Empathy isn't decoration. — Leadership & Business (Leadership/Business)

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