Here is a brief excerpt from an article by Katya Andresen for LinkedIn. To read the complete article and check out others, please click here.

Photo via the Human Capitalist, a blog on human resources.

* * *

For me, one of the worst feelings to have at the office is cerebral loneliness. I need the companionship of strong thinkers to spark my own mind. Brilliant ideas are rarely born in isolation, and successful projects stem from a strong, collective team.

In other words, to do great work, you must surround yourself with great people.

It’s an interesting exercise to define what this means for the type of thinkers you want on your team. I find that my best work comes from interaction with people who think differently than I do – and differently from each other. A diversity of mental profiles yields the richest results. Here are six types I always seek. (Sometimes one person can bridge several different modes of this thinking, so six types doesn’t always mean six people.) What would you add?

[Here are the first two of six]

1. The dreamer: This person never ceases imagining what’s not, what’s next and what’s possible. They think big and hopefully, stretching the bounds of what is considered achievable. They never stop asking, “what if?’ and supply your team with an electric and optimistic creative energy.

2. The debater: Debaters question your assumptions, call out your leap of faith logic and point out the flaws in the plan. They see problems long before others, and they keep everyone grounded and prepared. Their questioning nature forces you to strengthen the rigor of your arguments.

* * *

To read the complete article, please click here.

Katya Andresen is President and COO/Incoming CEO at ePals.