So does this mean that I no longer have to do those things at which I'm horrible?

In the coming weeks, my department is holding a team-building event. The purpose of the event is to find out what each of us are good at and how we can work better together as a team, hence team-building. In preparation for the event, we've been asked to read the first part of StrengthsFinder 2.0 (required reading?...argh...I thought that those days were over :) and take an online test to find our top five "talents."

Developed by the Gallup Group (yes, the same people who bring us those fine Gallup polls), the StrengthsFinder system focuses on finding your talents and gets you to focus on developing the things you do well rather than trying to improve your deficiencies. I found the idea similar to the principle of comparative advantage: if you're good at producing shoes but not good at selling them, you will align with someone who is good at selling shoes.

Anyway, once I read Part 1, I logged onto the book website and took the test. According to the test, these are the general areas where I should develop my mad skillz:

• Learner: No surprise here. I love to learn. (Psst: actually I'm a fourth-level apprentice geek; my guild master says that soon I'll develop magical powers). My favourite line that the book uses to describe a learner: "[the learner] does not mean that...you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential." Hmm, how many times has that statement rung true in my post-secondary career :). Just give me enough learning so that I can call myself a "knowledge poser."
• Context: "You look back to understand the present." Must have been those four years of studying History.
• Harmony: "You look for areas of agreement. In your view there is little to be gained from conflict and friction." Yup, don't like conflict - I mostly just repress my feelings and let them out in the appropriate environment...did I mention that my work has a sound-proof booth? :)
• Intellection (which isn't a word, but what do you expect from a book titled "StrengthsFinder"): Apparently, I like to think; however, my thoughts may lack focus. That's true - not all my ideas can be winners (like that time I took a swig of vanilla extract when I was five - how can something that smells so sweet, taste just so gawd awful).
• Empathy: "You can sense the emotions of those around you...as though their feelings are your own." Cool, I'm like that counselor from Star Trek (see, enough of a geek to know the reference, but not enough of a geek to know the character's or actress' name...that's why I'm only an apprentice :).