You need both types for sure. The major problem is that they've been confounded, and the more creative ones are subsequently being driven out at an alarming rat

You need both types for sure. The major problem is that they've been confounded, and the more creative ones are subsequently being driven out at an alarming rate. There are also not enough spots for the worker bee types, because even though many do reach PI status, the majority don't. The majority of people in general do not become a tenured professor, and the entire academic system is essentially like minor league baseball where either you make it all the way or you exit. There should be way more laborers working on bio research, a lot of which doesn't even require understanding the science on the level of the "tradesman" PhD, let alone understanding the science on the level of being able to break new ground. This could involve both new viable long term positions to be a laborer in a university bio lab and a greater diversity in the type of biology research that can occur in industry. But government funding agencies needs to get their shit together first.