Building Teams

When building teams, it is easy to just select people who are similar to you — either through background, personality, or work style. One philosophy I have is you need variety in your team to make sure that there’s a full perspective on the issues that we are trying to solve not a one-sided view. I look for diversity on my team — different ages, backgrounds, education, working style, and personality and one thing that I prioritize is the background. If there’s a team of similar backgrounds, the answers they provide are bounded to be in a similar vicinity. However, diversity will allow people to bring in various perspectives making sure no possibilities are left without review and make sure that we provide the best answer to the question that was given. After selecting a diverse team, I ensure each member is familiar and comfortable with each other so that there isn’t any resistance or politics when there’s a disagreement and it will create a more collaborative environment.