Sometime ago I was asked how do I choose the right people for a project. You’ll always need different type of people on any given project. Their attitude, personalities and skills will make or break the project. I struggled a bit to go into this in details as I have been lucky most of the time to be surrounded with the right people at the right time.

Recently I came across Day In A Canoe blog which had a post about different type of people you'd want in your canoe. This clicked with me as I enjoy white water rafting and kayaking. The author asks a very good question “Would I spend a day in a canoe with you?” It really put things into a perspective. Think about your project as a long trip in the middle of nowhere. Who would you take with you? This also made me think about another important aspect which I find often overlooked. Which is clarity about the goal of the project. It will be very difficult to find and attract the right people without a clear goal that you’d like to achieve. So in summary

1. Define your goal or problem that needs to be solved
2. Put together the right people that you’ll need to get there