The child, the innovator, and the perfectionist in tech industry

Children and beginners have a naturally ability to be fearless.

What makes children powerful

Beginners have one big advantage: no internal commentary. They have empathy, and look up to perfectionists and innovators.

What makes perfectionists powerful

Perfectionists have lots of internal dialogue while doing something. They tend to improve/nitpick things made by innovators and beginners.

A perfectionist has nobody to look up to, only down. He/she will quarrel about style of coding, softwareprocess, lack of leadership, empathy and interest in marketing. They shine in pointing out (security) issues upfront.

The sweet spot: the innovator

The innovator is:

• not looking up to beginners or perfectionists
• pragmatist, focused on a goal rather than a programming language
• listens to perfectionists, but does not fight them
• listens to beginners, but does not fight them

Also the innovator is focused on market driven development (instead of ‘build it and they’ll come’). The innovator trusts other people to take the right decisions, and that failure is a necessity.

Conclusion

Be aware of what kind of people you’re dealing with, and keep their limits in mind. Perfectionists can turn out to be less productive in the beginning, but they can also prevent you lots of headaches in the long run. Beginners and innovators are very openminded to work with. A tech lead ideally should be an innovator, in order to put brakes on beginners/perfectionists at proper times.