MAXIMIZE STRENGTHS

Or to put it slightly more negatively, but more bluntly: Minimize the risk of some turkey screwing up your project!

If you're lucky, you may be in a position where you can identify exactly the person you need to undertake each piece. When I say person, I mean that combination of personality, skills, experience, motivation, personal goals, strengths and weaknesses that go to make up each of us. More often you will be given a group of people and be required to carry out the project with them.

I remember when I was a kid at school, we would have games sessions and teams would be picked. There was a handful of athletic superstars (or so they seemed to me) in the class, and from these would invariably be chosen the captains of the two sides.

Then the captains would pick individuals from a group of solid citizens who made up the bulk of the class. Finally there would be five or six people left and the teacher would split these in two with his hand and allocate half to each side. I was always in this final collection! I mention this because the group you start a project with almost always are a mixed bag of individuals with diverse personalities, abilities, ambitions and motivations, and this is the group that you will be trying to mold into your team.