People are different; we all know that. So why is it that many of us go out looking for clones of ourselves when recruiting new team members?

Steve Portigal quotes the New York Times in his ponderings about how to make different working styles compliment each other rather than creating friction. It’s an interesting question, and one that many seem to overlook when pulling a new team together. A well-constructed team consists of a good balance of skills, experiences and aptitudes, and in order to get those you will have to select a diverse group of people.

The trick is to openly value those differences as the very things that give the team its strength. If everyone were the same the team would be very strong in certain areas and would have huge gaps in others. Take a motor racing team: the driver has the skill to drive the track and win races, but he/she wouldn’t win anything without the skills of the mechanics, engineers and management all contributing their specialist talents to the overall team purpose – winning races.

So much as you might like yourself, think about the skills and expertise you don’t have and go out and recruit people who do. Otherwise, just jump on the photocopier and create yourself a team in five minutes – just be careful not to take them out in the rain!