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This paper presents a figure of a third-party supporting actors when trying to find sustainable and long-term compromises inside inter-organisational partnerships. On the basis of the transversal analysis of two contrasted case studies of pilot projects – of which one has led to the creation of a new employment regulation scheme, and one has not gone beyond the cobbling-together set up by precarious workers – we identify five characteristics of the third-party action which help to explain the success or the failure of the process. These characteristics are the cornerstones of a terceisation function. This function differs from the usual understanding of the role or function of the third-party actor. It is a pragmatic incentive aiming at placing the actors in a position where they can “terceise” themselves. This means that, with the help of a pragmatist methodology, actors become able to make an identity shift which allows them to go beyond their organisational routines and defensive strategies, and therefore to let emerge new, sustainable, and long-lasting compromises.