Team members have different way of thinking about the work and coming up with ideas that help to advance it and innovate along the way. Additionally, as a leader it is also important to recognize that your team members have different kinds of thought skills and the ability to identify what types of thinkers you have on the team. All of this will help to build a better deliverables as well as a better work experience.
Starters
It helps to start at the beginning and thought starters do that. These individuals are the originators of ideas; able to look at all the information available and see things that others can’t see.
Teams need starter thinkers to keep pushing them forward. Thinking outside the current constraints and with the ‘art of the possible’ in mind. Without them, many teams will just do what is right in front of them and in the ways they have done things before.
Evolvers
Evolvers are the thinkers that ‘punch up’ ideas. This thinking has a good foundation of solid ideas, but their additions make the overall idea exponentially better; getting to the place where 1+1=4. Many times this kind of thinking can help teams who a stuck on an idea to keep moving forward.
Testers
Testers look at what is in front of them and make sure every T is crossed and I is dotted. Having this inward view helps to make sure all ideas are solid and keeps the team grounded. Also, testers introduce ideas that focus on a team’s ability to execute well and produce high quality deliverables and not just the ideas.
Teams and leaders need all kinds of thinkers. Understanding the kind of thinker you are or the kind of thinkers you have on your team can help to bring together the right talent in order to maximize the team’s availity to innovate and deliver; a solid balance between pushing the envelope and staying focused on overall quality.