Weaknesses? Just STOP

I recently finished the book Go Put Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham, co-author of First Break All the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths. I enjoyed the book, but I must admit that I found some of his ideas a little impractical.

Strengths centers on identifying your strengths and weaknesses on the job. Unlike the other two books in the series, it looks at identifying actual tasks that are strengthening or weakening versus personality or character traits. Buckingham argues that employees should organize their jobs to focus on their strengths and stop doing the activities that weaken or drain them.

I agree with Buckingham’s ideas to an extent. Our greatest opportunities for growth and success lie in our strengths, not in trying to fix a weakness. That is why it is called a weakness and not “something you are temporarily not good at.” There is only so much that can be done. I know that no matter how hard I study, I will never get any better at calculus. My brain just does not understand it. On the other hand, I feel energized by writing and look for ways to improve and grow. For me to be happy and fully engaged in employment, I need to identify all the activities that strengthen me and find a job that uses them to my advantage.

But what if you are already in a job and have identified that you perform several more weakening activities than strengthening ones? Common sense says you probably shouldn’t have taken the job in the first place, but these are tough times – no time to be picky. Strengths suggests that you STOP: Stop doing this activity, Team up with others that are strengthened by the activity, Offer up a strength, and Perceive your weaknesses from a different perspective.

Good suggestions, but how practical are they? I think it depends on the organization and the supervisor. The examples used in the book describe cases where the employees were able to go to their direct supervisor, explain their strengths and weaknesses, and devise a plan to re-design the job around strengthening activities. In both cases, the supervisors were very flexible and open to suggestions. In one case, the supervisor was contemplating a job re-design anyway. Personally, I don’t think all people are as lucky to have such flexible and open supervisors.

I used to work in a restaurant and part of my job involved up-selling merchandise items to customers. I know for a fact that up-selling is an activity that weakens me. I hated trying to sell merchandise to families that I know did not want or need it. However, a meeting with my boss to discuss a job re-design would have probably gone something like this…

Me: Up-selling is just not an activity that strengthens me. I don’t think I’m going to do it anymore.

Boss: You’re fired.

Yes, I realize this is an exaggeration. But my point is that many jobs do not have the flexibility needed to utilize the STOP method completely. What do you do then?

Tell us! Has anyone ever had a successful situation where they’ve been able to re-design their job to fit their strengths???