Some quick notes from Chapter 5 of the book, First, Break All the Rules. Capturing it here mainly for my future reference :)
How might we turn harmful weaknesses into irrelevant non-talents?
The most straight forward causes of poor performance are either:
Mechanical causes
The company is not providing the person with the right tools or information
Personal causes
Eg. The person is still grieving from a recent death in the family
Non-talents vs weaknesses
We all have imperfections, but it’s important to understand the difference between a non-talent and a weakness. A non-talent is a trait like not remembering names, not being empathetic, etc. Non-talents are typically irrelevant to performance and are often harmless.
Non-talents can turn into a harmful weakness when the success in a role is dependant on an area that is a non-talent. Eg. Service staff not being able to remember names. Good managers can help turn weaknesses into harmless non-talents. There are 3 general approaches to this.
Devise a support system
Example: Employee with special needs unable to count the chickens in the fryer, often overloading the fryer. Instead of firing the employee, the team chose to engage with a supplier that packaged the chicken is packets of 6, turning the weakness into a irrelevant non-talent
Managing around a weakness helps to keep the focus on a person’s strengths while still being successful in the role
Devising a support system is more productive and fun than trying to fix a weakness
^ Sounds like an exciting proposition for designers :)
Find a complementary partner
Working to become well rounded, or trying to turn a shortcoming into a strength is usually a waste of time.
Eg. If i’m non-confrontational, I can go through training earnestly, but I will always instinctively shy away from battle.
Focus on developing well rounded partnerships, not well rounded individuals
Find ways of capitalizing on who you are, not trying to fix what you’re not
Eg. Someone who always forgets to hand in expense reports. Instead of harping and doubling down on the person, can just ask another teammate to help handle it
This can be tricky as it requires people to acknowledge their weaknesses and imperfections
A good team is not built on members playing all roles equally well. Rather, it is made up of a sum of individuals excelling in their roles.
Eg. like a strong soccer team, a flamboyant dribbler has to have support of more disciplined, defensive ball winners.
Like a T-shaped, or M-shaped model. Know multiple things, but there’s an area of strength.
Find an alternative role
The last resort after exhausting the options above
How do you know if you’re at this point?
Always will have weaknesses to manage around, but if find myself spending most of my time managing around someone’s weaknesses, then at this point it’s a casting error – time to fix the cast and stop trying to fix the person.