This is the latest from my blog about EA-org-style management, together with Brenton of 80k. You can subscribe on Substack if you like.

Sometimes people review their strengths and weaknesses, and then automatically assume that they should try to improve their weaknesses.

I think that you should at least consider focusing on strengths instead.

Why focus on strengths?

Increasing returns. You can often create a lot of value by becoming excellent at a few important things, and then finding roles that use those strengths. So going from good to great can be worth investing in. This is particularly true if you’re operating in domains with fairly heavy-tailed returns, like research.

Success spirals: It can be more fun and exciting (h/t Daniel Kestenholz) – it's a more positive endeavour than trying to address your weaknesses: you can lean into your passions, and build a sense that you’re doing a good job overall.

Some weaknesses can be fixed with an exoskeleton (rather than just by building muscle). Even when it seems like a weakness is really holding you back, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should work on improving it. Maybe instead you should try to fill those [...]

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Outline:

(00:32) Why focus on strengths?

(02:06) Why focus on weaknesses?

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First published:

Source:

Linkpost URL:
https://substack.com/home/post/p-186395881

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.