Thelma and Louise. Bonnie and Clyde. James Watson and Francis Crick. Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Serena and Venus Williams. Famous partnerships are responsible for some of the human race's greatest leaps forward - or go down in history for less praiseworthy reasons.

Perhaps some of these examples even sprang to the minds of Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans as they applied jointly to the position of artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, a historic theatre company in Britain. They could have been inspired by the theory that even ShakespeareAn English playwright and poet who is often called the greatest writer in the English language. himself did not write all of his plays alone.

It was announced this week that they have won the title. Now they are jobsharers - people who share a job traditionally done by one person.

The jobshare has a long history. In Ancient Rome, two consuls were elected jointly on a yearly basis to one of the most important political positions.

PlatoOne of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers.  wrote that humans originally had two faces, four hands and four legs, but were split in half by Zeus to punish them. Because of this, every human has a lost second half - a "soul-mate", or a perfect partnership.

Nowadays, jobshares are rare. Just 0.4% of the workforce in the UK work in this arrangement, even though many praise it for allowing employees to have more free time and flexibility with their work.

Despite this, some experts disagree with the idea that "two heads are better than one". Studies suggest that decisions made by one person are more likely to be accurate and sensible than those made in groups of two or more. The concept of "crowd think", for example, refers to irrationalNot thought through or nonsensical. decisions made by a large number of people.¹

For now, our relationship with the jobshare is still unclear. Some argue that as a society, we are most comfortable when power has one recognisable, reassuring face.

Yes: The labour force is evolving and our work practices need to evolve too. Besides, two minds really are better than one.

No: There is nothing wrong with the traditional 9-5. People are losing the desire to work nowadays.

Or... Jobshares in positions such as artistic director might work, but some professions need just one person at the wheel. You could not have a jobsharing athlete, painter or architect.