Pair programming is great, but that can only happen between willing and compatible participants. As you say, it should never be imposed from 'above' to any arbitrary pair of colleagues!
Agreed. I 'pair program' with my consulting partner. That is, we sit in the same lab and do our own thing, coming up for air to discuss an approach or algorithm, or even to review code. But 99% of the time is spent at our own tasks. This kind of 'pair programming' works best for us.
