Two kinds of people you need in your team

Early humans were mostly hunters; they mostly migrated across different landscapes in search of food. It was a mere 10,000 years ago that humans discovered farming and thus two distinct types of human races emerged - the hunters and the farmers; and their traces can be found within each one of us in every aspect.

Hunters led a nomadic life, usually a small group of people who moved very quickly from one hunting ground to another. By contrast, the farmers learnt to cultivate crops and support a large community, thus giving birth to the society we live in today.

There is the same balance of ideologies in every team, organization, sport or even family. The hunters are the opportunity seekers and the farmers, the opportunity managers. In modern businesses, the surge in business is usually contributed by the hunters, as they have the natural ability to find an opportunity even if one might not exist. Their energy levels peak only when an opportunity is in sight, and they lose focus just as quickly once an idea seems to get old. These people are mostly networkers or work as independent consultants.

Farmers on the other hand have steady and even energy levels. Their ability to nurture, grow and manage opportunities at hand makes them unique and special. They are highly methodological and rarely take a chance, which is why; they are best known to hold teams, organizations or families together. They work within procedures and have their own process which they follow to the T. However this way of functioning hinders their ability to perform and they are mostly unrecognized.

If you take some time to assess, you will find that your friends, family and colleagues belong to one of these two personalities. It is critical that a hunter should not try to become farmer and vice versa. One must identify their own type and play to their potential. We need these two races to co-exist and collectively create and nurture our world.