The Sweet Spot

As part of my work plan, my manager has encouraged me to incorporate Marcus Buckingham's idea of playing to your strengths. In his studies, he has found that people perform better when they are given tasks that come naturally to them, or ones that energize them. His theory is that by demanding that employees work on their weaknesses, nothing is gained. The employee gets frustrated and discouraged, and what takes him/her hours worth of effort could be easily done by someone who does have a passion for that task.

Hallelujah! Finally, someone has said what I've always believed. Even in high school, I never understood why I had to take so much gym and math and science when I obviously excelled at Language Arts and foreign languages. Those stupid Chemistry and Algebra courses did nothing but bring down my GPA and make me yearn for graduation. Why did I need to be so well-rounded?

Now, here's Marcus Buckingham telling us to build on our strengths in order to find the sweet spot between our daily work and career goals. We'll be happier and more productive employees.

He gives an example in which the Gallup Organization tested two groups of readers. One group had below-average reading speeds and the other above-average. After taking a speed reading class, the below-average readers went from reading 85 words per minute to reading 134 words per minute; a 50% improvement. But the above-average readers went from 300 words per minute to 1800 words per minutes; a 600% increase, which nicely demonstrates the idea that a person grows most in the areas where he's already strong.

So, I was assigned with this homework: for one week, I had to write down what tasks I did during that day that left me energized and which left me drained or unmotivated. I thought I knew myself pretty well, but some of my discoveries surprised me. For instance, I never thought I was a person who liked the feeling of crossing things off a To-Do list. In fact, I rarely keep a To-Do list. But I discovered that I do like the feeling of accomplishing something tangible that I can consider completed at the end of the day.

I also learned that I'm not as much of a people-person and collaborator as I thought. I seem to feel much more satisfied working on projects independently and realized that the 'team approach' demotivates me. The things that excited me most about my day were the opportunities I was given that enabled me to learn something new, whether it be a new skill, hearing a new concept, or reading. That shouldn't have been a surprise except that I never thought about those things as working because they don't seem like work to me!

Now my manager and I have to figure out how to marry some of my strengths and passions with future career opportunities. Which, as I've already stated, is an entirely new concept that excites me. I can't wait to work more toward my sweet spot.