I used to hate this one guy I worked with. Okay, hate is a strong word. I strongly disliked him because he had an ability to think of 10 ideas on the fly.
Meanwhile I took copious notes and would end up poking holes in his ideas to create a richer solution.
Why did I dislike this guy? Because I thought he was smarter than me. Why couldn't I come up with ideas in brainstorming sessions?
Until I learned about the two types of thinkers and how they compliment one another.
There are two types of thinkers: Smart thinkers and sustained thinkers.
There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with thinking either way but it’s good to understand their differences so you see your thinking gift for what it is.
Smart thinkers - These are the people that fire off 50 ideas in a meeting. They love a brainstorming session with tons of people in the room. We classically think of these people as “creatives.”
Sustained thinkers - These people HATE brainstorming sessions because they need time to chew on an idea. The gift with these folks is their ability to think through an idea before simply coming up with one. Their solutions are usually more robust but they take more time.
My personal opinion is to have both smart and sustained thinkers on your team. I’ve always been a sustained thinker and loved fleshing out smart thinker ideas. I love a good plan but generating the idea seemed laborious.
No matter which camp you’re in know they are both valuable assets to an organization.