One of my favorite bloggers and authors is Seth Godin. A lot of people like Seth because he just makes sense. He talks about business/life/marketing in a way that is bold and true. I don’t believe all the concepts are rocket science, but the ability to articulate it in a way that people can understand it is a gift.
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Recently, Seth posted a blog about hunters and farmers. In his blog, he addresses to distinct types of people. Here are a couple of comparisons that he makes (quoted below):
1. Farmers prefer productive meetings; hunters want to simply try stuff and see what happens.
2. Hunters want a high-stakes mission; farmers want to avoid epic failure.
3. The last hundred years of our economy favored smart farmers. It seems as though the next hundred are going to belong to the persistent hunters able to stick with it for the long haul.
His post is about marketing to these different types of people, but also touches on the difference of hiring these two types of people. Many times, (even in my own experience) companies think they want a hunter, but when the hunter is on board, they scare the farmer. If the farmer is managing the hunter, they may out of self protection; push the hunter out the door. The danger is that it is tough to grow a company with only farmers.
I am very excited about a new book that Seth Godin has just published called Linchpin. I just purchased the book and hope to have some real insight to post here in the near future. Linchpins might be hunters. That is what I am. Linchpins push the envelope and try to lead away from the ordinary or average. This is music to my ears.
I can’t wait to read this, because once again, Seth has probably made an important concept, easy to digest and understand, and personally, might help me address some of the issues that have challenged me in my own career path.
Are you a hunter or a farmer?
