Comments on: Choosing Team Members, Or Why Feeling Dumb Might Be a Good Thing

By: Jeffrey Tang

Jeffrey Tang — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:56:33 +0000

Brilliant people are inspiring! Plus you get to be considered brilliant by association :)

By: Melissa Gorzelanczyk

Melissa Gorzelanczyk — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:50:21 +0000

I work best with friends or people I consider “brilliant.” And definitely like to have brilliant friends that make me feel dumb – because that means they are probably helping me!

By: Jeffrey Tang

Jeffrey Tang — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:25:41 +0000

You say it very well, Sibyl. Thank you for participating.

By: Jeffrey Tang

Jeffrey Tang — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:22:14 +0000

Steven (commenting earlier) also brought up a similar point: when we learn to work with or around other talented people without getting defensive, we improve our abilities and creativity in the process.

By: Zengirl

Zengirl — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:36:11 +0000

I think some tasks are better done alone and while others you can use some team member’s or some one more knowledgeable to help. We should be flexible enough to switch and smart enough to know which tasks are done alone or as a team.

Asking help sometimes is hard for me, as I do not want to burden anyone with my issues but actually I have found most of people are happy and would love to help.

By: Sibyl-alternaview

Sibyl-alternaview — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:02:21 +0000

Jeffrey: This post and advice is right on point. We really should focus on ensuring we have the right team with diverse skills and strengths. It boggles my mind sometimes when people don't realize the sheer advantage you have when you do have a team of experts. They allow pride and ego to get in the way and never take advantage of the knowledge that is right in front of them and available for the taking. This advice is useful in every aspect of our lives and once we realize how to tap into the advantages of a strong, diverse team, everything else just falls into place. Thanks for the great post and insights.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:59:24 +0000

This is a really timely article for me. I'm a developer looking for a designer to work together on a bunch of projects.

Up to now I've either bought or used free themes and tinkered with them myself - recently realised that to take things to the next level I really need to team with a designer rather than pretend I can do it myself.

Big question for me is though: How do I find someone that I can trust? I want work on a profit split basis and so someone would need to trust me as much as I would need to trust them.

How would you go about finding someone you can trust to work with?

By: qconklin

qconklin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:02:42 +0000

I always try to keep experts available, my term for team building, so that when I have a question i have someone to go to. The importance of having these resources goes beyond just the information but the fact that having others in our lives like that sharpens us.

By: Jeffrey Tang

Jeffrey Tang — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:33:29 +0000

To be honest, I wrote this partly as a reminder to myself. I'm competitive by nature, and I have to constantly fight the urge to "fix" the competition by surrounding myself with people who make me look good.

When I'm successful in fighting this urge, I find myself in the company of people who motivate me to be the best I can be, and who work with me as partners. That's when great things happen.

Thank you for sharing, Srinivas.

By: Jeffrey Tang

Jeffrey Tang — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:31:07 +0000

Good point. In my mind, one of the biggest obstacles that gets in the way of liking people on your team is insecurity over teammates that seem more talents than you are (though there are, of course, other factors too)

Thanks!