“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” -Albert Einstein
Take a look at your development team(s). Do you see a bunch of acronyms or are you blown away by their creativity? When you ask for a solution to a problem do you get one answer, or four possible solutions? Do they ever walk to your desk out of the blue to bounce a brand new idea off of you? Do they have pet projects and did they come up with those themselves?
There are lots and lots of people who can write code, draw up a project plan, fix a bug or create a data model. But you don’t want a manila team. Big thinkers energize everyone they come into contact with. Even if many of those ideas are half-baked and unrealistic, these are the kind of people you want on the team. Because sooner or later they’re going to hit onto something big. And that’s one more big idea than those that develop-by-the-numbers.
Thinking of it another way, if you were planning a big event, a gathering of some of the most important people in your life, and you had the choice to hire a short order cook or a chef to work it which would you choose?
Creative types deliver better solutions. Encourage it, cultivate it and shape it. Then stand back and watch your team amaze you.
