Overdone strengths

Have you ever met an athlete or someone who goes to the gym who seems to be in some physical pain. They confess they pushed themselves too hard and are now suffering with an injury or strain that will take some recovery time. The idea of the exercise is not worthy of criticism but perhaps loading the equipment with weights way above their physical limitations was perhaps a mistake. It is this concept of overdoing something that is good for you that is worthy of exploration.

Reflect on your strengths for a moment. You might be really good at innovation, organising things, energising people, bringing technical expertise to a project, connecting with people and so on.

Have you ever been to an interview when the panel ask you to describe what you believe to be your main strengths? Most people can list these fairly easily. Then they ask you to list what you see as your main weaknesses and people often struggle to be eloquent at this point.

The concept of ‘overdone strengths’ can be the salvation for that question but also a key learning tool. Let us take a simple example like being organised. At one extreme we have the concept of being disorganised, chaotic and last minute. By contrast the organised person will plan, get things done on time and appear in control. You will probably have seen many competence frameworks for the concept of ‘organised’ that start with 'I am chaotic’ and end with ‘ I am organised’.

But let's ts stretch that concept for a moment and consider an organised person who over-does this. You may have met the person who has a spread-sheet for every eventuality, a plan for every trip, a clear plan for every eventuality and who comes to meetings with their Gantt charts and notes and plans all beautifully laid out. Someone in. the meeting suggests a creative idea or a fresh approach and they are instantly shut down with the words ‘that’s not on the plan’.

This brings an alternative and interesting view of the word weaknesses. Our challenge is for you to list what you see as your main strengths and then to consider what happens if and when you overdo these strengths. In this instance, the extrovert can make too much noise and talk over people, the person bringing energy can start to annoy people, the innovator never stops to focus on getting something done. All strengths can be overdone and can have a negative impact on the people around them.

I wonder which strengths of yours you overdo sometimes? I wonder how this impacts the progress of your team?