Collaboration is a key to innovation. It is also a door to introspection. After a deeper-than-planned conversation (fueled by two too many glasses of wine) with two good friends, somehow we started talking about career success. We came up with three major characteristics to be successful in our line of work: Intelligence, Work Ethic, and Personality.

Intelligence is our ability to comprehend and grasp difficult concepts. Work Ethic is our drive and desire to work hard and produce a good product. Personality is how we deal with other people. You don’t have to excel one or all of these areas, but they all have to be present. Regardless of how strong you might be in one of the areas, if one of them is absent, then you are destined for failure, or worse yet, mediocrity.