Your growing business needs a few more hands on deck and you’ve decided to scale your team with freelance talent. You’ve narrowed down the skills you need and the experience you’re looking for, and now you’re ready to start interviewing candidates.
But before you begin the process, there’s a nagging question you can’t quite answer: Which type of person do you need, a thinker or a doer? Who’s going to be the best fit for you?
It’s a common question hiring managers consider when deciding whom to bring on. You want someone to complement your existing team, fill skill gaps, and contribute his or her own secret sauce to the work you do. Each type of personality has its own strengths—so the question becomes, which do you need more on your team?
“Thinkers” are typically…
- High-level strategizers
- Planners with a 360-degree perspective
- Creative
- Apt to consider a project from every angle, with multiple approaches
- Skilled with deep-dive research and interpreting analytics
While “doers” are…
- Task-oriented
- Self-motivated
- Productive
- Able to take a laundry list of things and efficiently get them done
- Good with repetitive, tedious tasks and take direction well
Of course, these two types aren’t always mutually exclusive. Many people share a bit of both personalities, or are primarily one but can pick up traits of the other with a little practice (or coaxing).
The Science Behind Thinkers and Doers: Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking
A lot of things can influence someone’s proclivity toward being a thinker or a doer, but it mostly boils down to one thing: mindset. It’s hard to make our minds be creative and concrete at the same time. When we’re operating in a logic-driven, task-based world, it can be hard to switch over into creative thinking mode, and vice versa. Being able to identify what we’re more prone to and when can be helpful in training our brains to shift gears when we need to.
Are you more critical, analytical, and focused on finding clearly defined, singular solutions to problems? That’s the convergent thinking of a doer. Are you more creative, and open to exploring lots of possible solutions? That would be the divergent thinking of an imaginative brain—someone who would be great at design thinking.
When you use both, that’s called “lateral thinking.”
Now that you have a glimpse of the psychology behind thinkers and doers, here are some other questions to help you determine which type is right for you.
What stage is your project in?
How far along is the project you’re hiring for? If you’re in the early planning stages, you might want someone who’s more of a thinker and able to come up with the concepts or strategy. If your team is a well-oiled machine—say you’re cranking out content on a regular basis, but want to scale your output—you likely want a doer who can step in and tick all the boxes.
What do you need more right now: ideas or action?
Does your team have a list of deliverables, but you’re lacking the bandwidth to churn them out? Do you need someone to make quick decisions, balance a budget, review work, or delegate tasks? While a thinker might have brilliant, valuable insights, they also might spend too much time deliberating rather than delivering. You probably need a doer to tackle that to-do list.
Or, do you have the manpower to get things done, but you need a bit of ideation and innovation to get started on the right foot? Maybe you need someone to come up with unique topics for a blog or video, or create new processes for a growing team. In this case, you’ll want a thinker who can provide you with a few different options.
In some circumstances, a doer might evolve into a thinker (i.e., more of a project manager or high-level strategist) after gaining experience with the doing. In these cases, you might get the best of both worlds depending on what you need. Identify your goals and match them up with the personality that is more likely to meet them without much friction.
What kind of hiring manager are you?
Who you are as a manager plays a big part in who you’ll end up hiring—especially if you’re a taskmaster who already knows exactly what she needs or a dreamer who has ideas but needs help narrowing them down.
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Know who you are as a hiring manager and you’ll be better able to identify who can fill the gaps you need, make your work stronger, and help you be more productive.
How can you use milestones and deliverables to bring out the best in each?
There are things you can do to nurture one type over the line. For example, you might work well with creative thinkers but need them to be a doer when it comes to certain things. In a pinch, you can set milestones accordingly, giving them specific marks to hit.
Here’s your chance to get the best of both worlds. If you give a thinker a few set deadlines, you’ll be able to reign in their process and keep them productive and on schedule. If you want a bit more depth from a doer, set up brainstorming sessions and be sure to provide ample feedback on what they deliver.
Whether you need in-depth ideation and strategy or an increase in helping hands, Upwork has your talent needs covered. The key is to take the leap, write a job post, and get more work done, faster.