When they welcomed us into business school, very quickly the professors categorized us as either poets or engineers.

Obviously, people come in all different kinds of packages and defy categorization, but sometimes it helps. Although there is a part of me that likes to pull together manuals and ensure good procedures, I'm definitely a poet.

Poets are like artists - they see things in their mind's eye and then create them. They get the big picture, but not necessarily the details. They understand problems and conceptualize solutions, creating the superstructure for the engineers to come along behind and build around.

What do engineers do? Our business school dean talks about them being "technicians, such as actuaries, time-and-motion efficiency experts, accountants who get the books to balance down to the last penny, logistics honchos who slim down your inventory, and derivatives analysts." Engineers actually build stuff, whereas poets may just talk about doing it.

At the end of the day, while we all need poetry in our lives, we probably need more engineers than we need poets. Dreams may be inspirational, but they don't put bread on the table.

If you find a poet whose work is real artistry, then you want to hitch him to a bunch of engineers and you'll change the world. Just look at guys like Steve Jobs or Richard Branson.

If you're a young person, you would do well to find clarity about which of these you are - a poet or an engineer. It will save you a lot of pain if you focus on your strengths.