According to Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Pictures, it is better to have quality, talented people over a great idea any day. If you have a great idea and the wrong people, they will screw it up. Nurture your talent, he says.
I agree. But what does it mean to have the right people in a systems driven environment? The right people doesn't necessarily require that you hire super expensive people with years of experience and background. Although that could be useful during the start up and innovation phase in a business. (More on that tomorrow). You are really looking for, first and foremost, people that fit the culture and personality of the business.
Obviously the personality and culture of businesses vary from organization to organization. Every business has its own personality or character. Pixar, I suspect, looks for people with a certain creative and collaborative bend in their personalities.
Nordstrom's looks for people who have a personality oriented toward exceedingly high levels of customer service.
GE looks for people who can get results independently.
Southwest looks for people who like to have fun.
Inflection HR looks for people who know how to think.
Lavidge and Internet Marketing Agency (IMA) look for people who work smart and are creative.
Aquatic Environmental Systems finds people with low egos and will work at a team.
The point is that attempting to execute good ideas without people that really get the culture and values of your business might not get executed and implemented properly.
Great business then begins with getting the right people.