The Explorer

The Bureau files this classification from a 30-item forced-choice examination. Nothing on this page describes you — it describes the type, so you can decide whether the description is worth filing. The examination is free and takes six minutes.

I.Documented strengths

• Arrives at every trend two memos before management
• Prototypes in a weekend what the roadmap scheduled for a quarter
• Imports solutions from fields the team did not know existed

II.Known limitations

• Finishes one project in ten and cites all ten in interviews
• Depth is known to the subject as 'later'
• Has recommended adoption of technologies whose documentation they personally abandoned

III.Recommended assignments

Research & prototypes, spikes, fast-moving fields, any team requiring a scout.

IV.Why this type fits the role

• Someone must evaluate the new thing before the team commits a quarter to it, and this is the archetype that will have already read the source.
• A weekend prototype here costs days and replaces a planning cycle measured in months.
• The subject imports solutions from adjacent fields, which is the cheapest form of innovation available to any organisation.
• Fast-moving fields need someone who is not embarrassed by novelty, because everyone else will be a month behind and behind is expensive.

V.What drains this type

• Long maintenance tails require a temperament this archetype does not have. The subject will leave for the new thing, and the tail will be handed over unfinished.
• Compliance-locked codebases offer no legitimate novelty. The subject will build side doors, and this is a reportable event.
• Owning the company roadmap converts a scout into a prisoner. The subject's value is entirely in the recommendation, not the plan.