Correct their shortcomings or develop strengths? 3 questions will help determine
Motivation / / December 19, 2019
Scott Young
Writer, programmer and entrepreneur.
Most people claim that you should focus on your strengths. The authors of such books as "An outstanding leader"And"Bring maximum"I insist that we should give up trying to correct our shortcomings and instead develop talent that can make us great.
But with this advice there is one problem. He often does not work.
And not just because that life - a complicated thing and it in different situations, different solutions are needed. I think it's pretty easy to determine whether we should not ignore their weaknesses or to work on it.
When is it better to focus on the strengths of
So you've decided to focus on what you do best. The logic here is to achieve specialization and skill.
Albert Einstein did not need to be a good painter, baker or tailor. He could enjoy other people's works of artThere is bread, ispechonnye someone else and wear costumes that are not sewed it. If he had taken the time to learn how to bake, it would force him to pay less attention to the creation of general relativity.
Einstein's researches proved to be extremely important for the whole of mankind. If he had spent half his day at nothing, you would not have made his discovery.
This example illustrates that we should focus on their strengths:
- When possible specialization. Einstein could safely ignore the chance to learn baking cakes - this he had nothing to lose.
- When the skill is important. Success Einstein dependent on whether it will be the best physicist or not. The best, and not just good or mediocre.
When to focus on the weaknesses
Sometimes to accept that you have the weaknesses of anything is impossible.
Suppose that Einstein, a brilliant visualizer and thinker, he was weak in mathematics. In contrast to the inability to bake cakes, inability to deal with arithmetic calculations would be a serious space. Because success in science led not only Einstein thought experiments, but also calculations that are understood and available for inspection by other scientists.
Mathematics of general relativity was so complex that Einstein took years to solve all the equations. From the stress associated with constant hard work, he has even had problems with his stomach. Nevertheless, to avoid mathematics, he could not.
Einstein could not instruct the mathematical calculations to someone else, because they are inextricably linked to his work Physics. He could not pass the development of his theory on outsourcing.
This example illustrates that we should be taken for correcting its weaknesses:
- When the delegation impossible. Einstein could not get someone else to do it for all math. He had to deal with it himself.
- When a gap is undermining all initiative. If Einstein was bad at math, he was unable to substantiate his theory of relativity, whether it at least three times is true. One weakness, for most people, a small (think math!), Would be turned into a failure for him.
How to choose between correcting and ignoring weaknesses
Now let's see, what questions to ask yourself to determine whether you need to overcome their weaknesses or focus only on strengths.
1. Can you pass the work on outsourcing?
If you are able to convey to someone the job in which you are not an expert, it is likely you will not have to deal with it. When you can hire a professional to buy a product or delegate the taskIt is often a better solution than to study a foreign sphere for you from scratch.
2. Can you ignore their weakness?
Even when the delegate professionals do not, weaknesses sometimes manage to ignore. Just go do something else. If you are a writer, but not particularly cheerful, maybe you do not need to supply his prose comedy elements - write tragedy. If you are not good at math, you give up a career economist or a programmer and become, for example, a florist.
3. Whether you want to improve your weaknesses?
Sometimes weakness - it is a dormant power. Often we do not bleschit in something not due to lack of talentBut due to lack of practice. Therefore, if you are really burning desire to fix its weakness - it is a sign that you need a little more work on it.
But the opposite is true. If you hate to work on something, what you are weak and are more likely to do what you do best - be engaged in what is strong. The question is, can you ignore your weaknesses is important, but more importantly - whether you want to correct them.
see also🧐
- 4 ways to discover your hidden talents
- 55 questions that will help you to know yourself better
- Stop fighting with their weaknesses and focus on strengths