Strengths and Liabilities

Looking at the results of the strengths finder I find that my strengths like ideation and learner and input also keeps me distracted and un-focused. I remember that I should team up with another whose strength on focusing. Last weekend, I used up all my library privileges as well as both my sons. So I borrowed books on Asian furniture, Malaysian and Philippine interior design and architecture, Alan Greenspan's 'The Age of Turbulence', Tim Ferris's 'The 4-Hour Work Week', 'The Elements of Style', Winston Churchill's 'The Strategic Alliance' and DVDs on Indian classical music, documentary on lake Victoria in Africa and a movie on Filipino - Chinese.

Aside from that, I have committed to read my stack of old newspapers and magazines which I neglect to throw away until I have read them. All these to satisfy my so-called strength of input and learning. It is as if I am afraid that I will miss something. So reading Tim Ferris book is very enlightening. I should not work too much but instead work smarter is essentially the message. I have too much in my plate though I would think that it was a strength rather than a weakness. In fact, I am actually stagnating because there is too much input without the corresponding output. Embarrassingly, my output is only my blog and my Toastmaster speeches. How pathetic is that? I remember a line from Joseph Conrad about feeling like a drowning man which seems to fit my situation.

So my strength actually a liability because I lack focus and would like to do many things that I end up doing nothing. So maybe the trick is to learn how to manage or control your strengths rather than your weaknesses or liabilities. This is one area that was not discussed in the books by Marcus Buckingham or the Gallup websites. I wonder if there are other people who have the same problem. In fact to restate my situation, how to make turn my strengths into productive and focused effort instead of dissipating my energies into unproductive ventures. Is this the insight that I should learn from the strength finder exercise?

Building Strengths

After finding out the results of the strengths finder, it seems that most of my talents reside in my mind and seem to refer more to thinking. My themes don't seem to lie on action or dynamic attitudes and don't lie in the area of extroversion or in working and/ or meeting with others. So following the theory, what are the skills or knowledge that I need to gain to develop my talents and, thereafter, increase my strengths? This is my present challenge for me to think about.

I guess I now realize why I like to write so much. Or also on why I like visual thinking tools. Both skills help me in some of my themes like increase my input, strategy, ideation, intellection and learning. It helps me settle my mind by allowing my thoughts to be clarified and able to express my thoughts and ideas. Similarly, joining Toastmasters does not seem to improve my strengths as it does not seem to be a talent of mine. It would be more like a skill that will help me expound and express my ideas or learning to a public audience.

What about being a business man? It seems I may have no talent in this area although I may have some in investing and trading since it should appeal to my strategic or learning or input side. So making an investment is more like implementing a strategy that will earn me money. Of course, the strategy should be informed with the proper knowledge and insight. So gaining this knowledge will play to my talent of learning and input and intellection. So again, these seems to be more of an individualized activity as compared to working with many people.

What about being a writer? I guess some of the talents I have would support this profession because it would require intellection and ideation. But I still need to develop more creative writing skills or even the passion and excitement needed to complete the book. In fact most of the samples in the themes reported by strengths finders seem to involve writing. So there are some skills needed to make this career succeed although I may seem to have some talents here.

What about project management? Some examples from the test also show that my talents help me in this area. Specifically, strategic or intellection and maybe even learner because I do need to learn many new things when moving to different project areas. This is an interesting exercise of self-discovery and I have started to think about how to maximize my strengths and perhaps move towards a more enriching life and career.

Strengths Finder

I finally did the strength's finder test last night. I bought the latest book with version 2.0 from the Bangkok airport. I did not have the time last week to take the test even though I was on leave the whole week. Based on the test, my strengths are:

1. Input
2. Strategic
3. Intellection
4. Ideation
5. Learner

Based on my earlier feeling on what my strengths were I was able to guess right only 2 strengths: Ideation and Learner. I also got to thinking about my weaknesses. The theory goes that I should learn how to manage my weakness. I guess this is were I am not doing very well. In fact doing the test has opened my eyes on how to handle my weaknesses. Looking at these strengths, my weaknesses come in better light. What are my weaknesses:

1. Doing detailed plans
2. Doing reports and time sheets
3. Communication to stakeholders

I realized that my strengths do not lie in project management. In fact it is in the more creative aspect that I may be excelling: thinking and designing solutions (Ideation, Input), solving political problems (Strategic) and adapting to new ideas or business process (Learner). These strengths have made me excel in project management by getting the job done. But the more formal process of project planning and risk management are not my strong points.

But strangely I used to love some of these tasks when I was working back in my old job. Now in my new location, I seemed to have lost the touch. The only thing that has remained from my old tasks which I enjoy is working and supporting the users. This has remained although I am less and less excited by it. Looking at my strengths, I seem to be ready to move towards right-brain work following the ideas expounded in 'A Whole New Mind'. These strengths seem to be the ones needed in the new world where routine work are outsourced to places like India.

This is the reason why I pursued the taking of the strengths finder to guide me in my next moves in the new phase of my life. I feel that I need to change and I want to make sure that I go towards the correct direction where in I have a natural advantage and following the trend of the future. I have not yet read the full-report but my strengths seem to guide me towards some sort of designing work, perhaps also teaching or journalism. I feel that the findings seem to make sense.

I spent most of last week at home, watching the Olympics in TV, jogging, going to museums, reading and/or listening to audio books, watching movies and going to free seminars on finance and investing. I am thinking of buying a set of CDs on being a trader amounting to about USD $ 800 as an alternative career but I think it can help me as well in other areas such as being an educator. I am not sure if I now have a future on being a writer following the results of the strength finder. But I guess an exam does not really portend my future but offer only some possibilities or potentials.