This paper offers a way of thinking about the purpose of partnership; partnership behaviours which fit different purposes; and partnership behaviours which can lead to sustainable change and are not dependent on injections of external resources. The authors have created a typology which focuses on the purpose of partnership, in which the axes represent the level of predictability of objectives and solutions, and the types of goals (individual or collective) that are being sought. The range of behaviours that may usefully be employed when working in partnerships depends on where within the typology the partnership is located. Examples illustrating the partnership typology are given.