I’m reading Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath. They write about how to enact change within yourself, organizations and companies when change is almost impossible to achieve. We’ve all seen it at the office. The bureaucracy gains control, inertia sets in. Change is nearly impossible. They conclude that change is possible but not in the grand sweeping sense that appears to be common. Change happens one small step at a time. Change happens when your emotional and logical sides are properly caressed! It’s a fascinating book and I recommend it.
This post references a specific section of the book about self evaluation.The authors site a German experiment where a stranger walks into a room and begins reading a weather report. The subjects are asked to guess the IQ of the stranger. The stranger is then asked to guess his own IQ. Strange experiment, no? Who had the more accurate guess? The subject who knew nothing of the man other than he read a weather report! In fact, they were 66 percent more accurate!
We suck at evaluating ourselves. We overestimate how good we really are. In psychological terms, we suffer from positive illusion. Our brains automatically takes any fact and interprets them in the most positive way. We are constantly deluding ourselves. My theory is the decades of phony self-esteem hoisted upon us by parents, teachers and the media. Constantly telling Johnny how smart he is won’t deny the fact he is dumb as dirt, though if asked, he thinks he’s brilliant!
We all participate in positive illusion. It’s hard-wired into our brains! When asked about our talents or abilities, we sugarcoat them so as not to embarrass ourselves. If I’m asked if I play guitar, I say I dabble a bit, or yeah, I play a little bit. In reality, I suck!
The authors state that this positive illusion can prevent change because if people think they are good at something, even if they’re not, then why change? Why practice? Why get better? A false sense of complacency sets in.
I’m all for a positive mental attitude. I practice it everyday. Yes I constantly fall for the positive illusion. It’s hard not to! Still, I know what I’m good at, and what I’m not. You know it too. You know your strengths and weaknesses. The trick is to do something about it. Either improve on our strengths (they can always be improved upon), or work on your weaknesses. The only problem with improving your weaknesses is it may not be the best use of your time and energy. For example: I play keyboards and drums very well. I can write and produce songs very well. I can’t play bass or guitar worth a hill of beans. I can dabble, but I can’t play the guitar and bass parts I would want in my songs. I can do two things. 1) I can spend the next several years learning to play guitar and bass at a level just competent enough to provide the parts I need for my songs. 2) I can find a excellent guitar and bass player to play the parts just the way I want to, and even provide me with things I could never come up with. What would be the best choice? For me, it would be number two. Instead of playing it myself, mediocre at best, I can have a pro come in and play exactly what I want. I can focus on my strengths–keyboard, drums, writing, producing–and outsource my weaknesses!
To conclude, always have a positive mental attitude but be aware of your weaknesses and improve your strengths. Always know that you suck at many things and are really good at only a few. Very few of us are pure renaissance people. Sometimes you’ll have to strengthen your weaknesses, especially if your economic livelihood depends on it, or you need to make that jump to a higher level. If not, constantly improve your strengths and outsource your weaknesses.
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