Abstract and concrete thinkers

From marketing guru Seth Godin’s blog:

Most people you know are not as conceptual as you are, especially about stuff you really care about. Too many times, I’ve gotten excited about an idea and created a conceptual prototype. And almost every time, people, smart people, didn’t get it.

Hear hear. There are two types of people in the world – people who can operate on a conceptual level, and people who can’t. There aren’t many conceptual people out there. A lot of people who you assume will be conceptual types, actually aren’t. And when the two camps clash, as I’ve seen on many occasions – having caused a few such clashes myself, boy can it turn ugly.
The conceptual types gets excited by mere ideas; they don’t know what the end product will actually look like, or how they’ll get there (wherever it is they’re going), but they aren’t intimidated by that. They know the idea is a winner, and will come through in whatever guise. Mere mortals want tangible steps laid out, with a fixed picture, a fixed idea, a fixed budget, a fixed timeframe. Reassurance and predictability. Neither of which are plentiful in the new media world.
Seth’s conclusion goes a step further: ‘your prototype has to be better than the finished product is going to be.’ Hmm.