Are you the kind of person that likes to tuck yourself away in a little corner and get your creative juices flowing for hours on end?
Maybe you find this the most comfortable and productive place to be.
All alone with your pencil and paper. A hot mug of tea. And no distractions. Aaaahhhh….
A lot of us creative folk would seem to fit into this category. And according to some research carried out down at the Software Advice headquarters, we’re an essential ingredient of a super star workforce.
What am I banging on about?
You’ll find out in a second – thanks to this intriguing guest post from the guys at Software Advice.
Whether you fall into this personality-category or not, I’m sure you’ll know someone who does. So read on. And start to picture the different types of people that would make up your ideal dream team work force… Would this be one of them?
Are you a Savant?
Software Advice’s founder & CEO, Don Fornes, recently shared a series of personality profiles of workplace leaders, which they have dubbed the “Psychological Profiles of the Dream Team”. One of these profiles, the “Savant” specifically looks at those that excel in writing, creative and engineering roles.
Savants make especially good writers because they have extensive vocabularies, are masterful with words, pay close attention to details and have the ability to properly research their work.
Fornes also notes that a “savant” may often be introverted or have some social communication issues, but what they lack in interpersonal skills they more than make up in passion, their desire to learn, natural creativity and intelligence towards a specific skill.
Key Qualities of Savants:
Savants are independent, loyal, and natural problem solvers. Their focus and determination allow them to concentrate intensely for hours at a time, often not stopping until the project is complete. They are self-motivated perfectionists that hold themselves to high standards, and strive to deliver the best possible product.
Common Challenges:
While perfectionism is one of their assets, it is also one of their challenges. Since it’s impossible to do everything perfect, their desire for perfection can often lead to depression and a sense of underachievement.
Savants are often introverts, who have trouble communicating effectively with others. They are better at expressing themselves in their work.
Savants Are Great Writers:
Savants excel in writing, research, and creatives roles. They are natural wordsmiths, and excel in reading and writing from a very young age. Since Savants are natural problem solvers they also make great researchers.
Savants are also naturally creative people, with active imaginations. These skills combined with their natural talent for words makes them great content creators or editorial directors.
A Few Roles Savants Should Avoid:
Savants struggle with interpersonal skills and have a discomfort for social situations, which means they do not make them best candidates for senior management roles, jobs with a lot of customer interaction or positions where they are micromanaged.
Most importantly, they should always avoid roles where they are not utilizing their talent. They will become bored and removed from a role that does not allow them to engage their intelligence and creative minds.
Savants can be some of your highest-performing employees, if they are given an environment that is comfortable and encourages them to utilize their natural intelligence and creativity. Every company that needs a great writer on their team needs to find themselves a “savant.”
Well, there you go.
We probably all know at least one person who fits this description, right?
But are the boundaries so very clear-cut? Is every creative copywriter, or author or artist, or engineer or architect, necessarily bad with interpersonal and management skills? I think not. But maybe the truly amazing ones are.
hmmmmm…
Would you consider yourself a savant? Or something quite the opposite?
Share your thoughts now!
It is amazing to me that you have broken this down like you did. being able to put a label on something like a personality trait makes it much easier for someone to understand and develop that natural trait.
Thank you for writing this article! Everything in it describes me completely, and I had no idea that it was actually a personality type. This explains a lot!
No problem guys! Maybe it helps to know that you’re not the only one, eh? Interesting to know what other common personality categories people fit into…
I’m going to have to consider myself the exact opposite of a savant. I can’t concentrate for more than 5 minutes and if something else catches my eye, the project stops for a while until I can get back into it.
This describes me exactly! My last job was a court clerk. I worked in the civil courthouse at the filing window. It was awful. I’m a bit pinched financially since I was laid off, but mentally I feel so free!!! I’m so glad I stumbled across this site.
I have a friend who has a savant mind and he is very difficult to work with on many team projects. I have found that by letting him run with his ideas, the work is completed and it is better than expected.
Thanks for your input Francis!
I have found that the most creative people tend to be the rockstars of our craft and even though I am not one of them, I still do well for myself for the long term.
This is a very informational post and I can see some of myself in it. I didn’t realize that this is the reason I am not much of a team player and never have been.
Would you say you fit this personality type Shannon?
I’m a copywriter and I find that this describes me perfectly. I’m pretty much the office recluse. However, I’m technically an extrovert since extroversion is determined by how a person receives energy and not how loud/talkative they are. I like people, but I have to get “in the zone” when I work and appear very introverted.
Are you familiar with MBTI and/or Jungian psychology? I have taken the test, and my “type” is ENTP. I would imagine that many copywriters would test as ENTPs or INTPs.
Hi Jorden – thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I actually haven’t heard of Jungian psychology, but it sounds interesting – I’ll check it out 🙂
Jorden, just stumbled upon this post trying to morph my copywriting website and recognized your name from WritersRevolt newsletter that I recently subscribed to.
I too, am an ENTP and completely related to everything you posted.
I learned about MTBI Types after reading “Love Languages” with my boyfriend. And I only remember mine and his types because they are completely opposite on the ends, ENTP + INTJ. I am curious if others ENTP’s tend to match up with INTJ’s.
Eh, anyway… back to over-critiquing my website.
I’m a teacher who probably fits this category….after years and years of trying to make myself fit into the mold of the extroverted person that I think I should be (and years of fear that I am not interesting or creative or talented enough to create anything that people want to pay for, and thus selling my time and bodily presence rather than my talent or personality), I am finally opening up to the possibility that there is a path out there for me to both make money and not make myself sick and exhausted trying to be the extrovert that I’m simply not.
I totally agree with expressing yourself best through your work when you have this type of personality! I don’t think that I am a BAD communicator in person, but it definitely wears me out and I get frustrated at the lack of productivity that happens when everything has to be done in collaborative teams with agendas and minutes and debriefs. It is freeing to learn more about yourself. Thanks for this article.
Glad we have inspired you Kristin. There will be lots more insightful posts coming soon, after a bit of a break we’ve had (due to lots of demand for our services). So watch this space!
This is an interesting post! Like a couple of others here, I’ve been interested in MBTI for quite a while and have tested as INTP on every one that I’ve done. I’m one of those people who can be pretty creative but need a quiet, secluded environment to get anything done.
I’ve been told by plenty of people I’d be a good copywriter due to writing projects I’ve worked on, and would like to take the leap. But like so many INTPs I have trouble converting ambition to action, partly due to a dislike (discomfort?) of self-promotion, and partly from that concern with perfection. Will the work be good enough?
Would appreciate any advice/inspiration.