Doer vs Thinker: What Kind of Expert Are You?
What’s the driving force of your world? How much of what you do or think makes you what you are? Both concepts are precisely what illustrate the difference between the two types of professionals that prevail nowadays. The role splits where one is more prone to think and the other one, to do.
What about you? What kind of expert are you or would like to be? Are you more inclined to roll in the mud or would you rather sink into manuals and theory?
A Doer puts it all into practice, while a Thinker turns to theory and deep understanding. Expert Doers have reached a level of practical representation that elevates them to a certain level in a specific field. Thinkers have studied, argued, done the research and theorised on the workings of a specific field, making their capacity for critical thinking more precise, which allows them to arrive at more valid conclusions.
Thinkers reach excellence through study and analysis. These experts tend to be academics, consultants or researchers. In practice, though, it’s not all that clear. On the other hand, Doers have a broader profile that includes most professionals. These are people who follow a repeated practice of a specific aspect.
The distinction affects an infinity of fields and experience tells us not to categorise them as sole trends. Each sector has its own scope of possibilities and there are sectors in which Doers are necessarily Thinkers and viceversa.
“What’s prefered then?”, most people ask. Would it be best to combine the best of two worlds? Let’s get on it:
Doer VS. Thinker: Positive Aspects
Doers are known for their innate leadership, patience and resilience. But, what else is there to say about them?
Their performance confirms their expertise.
Suitable for those who shy away from books – It’s the perfect role for those who want to stay at a good distance from manuals and who find their eternal ally in demonstrations.
Flexibility and Mental Adaptability – Doers look for a way until they find it. And if they don’t, they create it. But they always manage to get their ideas to land in this world.
Thinkers are curious. They focus with precision and are very diligent. What else can we say about them?
Long term reward – Society rewards long years of study, training and commitment, acknowledging their condition and trusting their knowledge.
Backed by what is tangible – They can always search their studies and theoretical documents to back what they propose.
High capacity for analysis – Their broad set of skills make them good for many professional positions.
Doer VS. Thinker: Negative Aspects
The world rewards the work of both roles, but it also questions them, forcing them to reinvent themselves in order to survive. Thus, Doers are exposed to the following:
The need to constantly be proving through practice.
Problems transmitting their personal value – Doers are often not capable of developing a methodology for that which they do. They don’t know how to communicate right and that stops them from transmitting their personal value.
Not transferable to the whole – They can successfully prove a theory applying it to a business or a company, but they lack the knowledge to apply it to a whole community, sector or system.
On the other hand, which problems do Thinkers have to face?
They are always required to present plausible ideas and to have unreachable creativity.
Irrelevance – Theories usually prove their worth and veracity. However, they can also become an irrelevant aspect. That’s the precise moment in which Thinkers lose all their personal value.
Prestige substitutes knowledge – Many of the renowned Thinkers are sought after not only to confirm something, but also for the need to adhere to a certain status or recognition. Is success isolated from real life then? It’s something to think about.
What If We Tried to Get the Best From Both Roles?
Ultimately, both ways have a common goal: to exercise a profession. Doers have the mental ability not to make the same mistake over and over and Thinkers have the due diligence to deal with the failure of a theory. But the line that divides them can get blurry and both of them can have some part leader and some part curious, some part doer, some part thinker.
Maybe combining the best of both worlds is the best we can do for boths sides. The key is to transmit trust in the receiver —no matter the role we play and whether we mix a bit of both worlds— so they can believe in the work you’re doing.
