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.

1. 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 :)
       

2. 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.

3. 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.