The Article "Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness" was penned by David Rendall, a speaker, author, professor, and entrepreneur. He gives presentations about leadership and, in this article, provides an interesting viewpoint regarding the personal uniqueness of all people: that being unique, or a "freak" as Rendall puts it, is not a weakness, but a strength.
Rendall's manifesto is split into nine parts, that detail ways that a person can overcome their weaknesses. The first asks that the reader think about their own weaknesses and explains the misconception about "fixing" weaknesses. His second point tells the reader to try and use those weakness as strengths in the appropriate situations. The third provides the reader with a table that list strengths and their weakness that comes with them. Rendall stresses that they always come in pairs, and that they should not be considered flaws. The fifth proposes that you build upon your strengths, and the sixth tells the reader not to try to both fix their flaws and build their strengths as you cannot do both. The seventh stresses finding the place where your strengths work best or finding the right spot to fit the puzzle piece that is yourself. I will discuss points four, eight and nine below.
4.) Forget It: Don't Try To Fix Your Weaknesses
I think that the quote Rendall provides from Dr. Phil says it all: "You can't put feathers on a dog and call it a chicken". Simply put, you just can't be someone or something that you're not. So why try so hard to do that very thing? Rendall provides a survey statistic that said that 59% of people interviewed thought that fixing weaknesses were an essential part of personal development. Rendall then goes on to list why this isn't the case. He says that it is a slow process and that it is painful. After all, what person would enjoy doing things that they detest just so that they could get better at it. How is that helping us. He says that it distracts us from things that we could be using our strengths to do well at and that, in the end, it never really works out and just leaves your strengths uncatered to. I can really get behind this notion of forgetting about trying to fix your so called flaws and focusing on your strengths, because I personally have tried to do the same thing. I tried my hand at fixing my "flaws" once and it only made me miserable and it weakened what once were my strengths. I think that school and parents can shoulder some of the blame for this as it is these factors that are constantly pushing us to do better in absolutely everything, no matter what, no excuses.
8.) Freak: The Power Of Uniqueness
I am definitely no stranger to feeling strange or like a freak for having certain tastes in music or media or being obsessively interested in things people might not normally be. But things that are labeled as strange or freakish are only being compared to what is considered normal and normality is only made such when it is considered normal by the majority and standing out in a crowd isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, being creative and original means thinking outside the box or not following what other people consider normal. Doing things normally can get pretty boring with the sheer unoriginality and it's repetitive nature. Rendall gives the example of The Leaning Tower of Piza, because millions of people flock to see the tower each year, because of it's flaw, not in spite of it's flaw. After all, why would all of those people spend all that money to see The Perfectly Vertical and Normal Tower of Piza. Rendall says that we can learn five lessons from the tower: the flaw is vital in what makes the tower special, fixing the flaw would destroy the tower's specialness, but that didn't stop people from trying, efforts to fix flaws usually fail, it is worth the effort to maintain your flaws and to stop listening to those who want to "fix" you and be your best because of your flaws.
9.) Freak Factory: Putting Your Quirks To Work
In this section, Rendall gives you ways, both as a person and as a manager that you can use to increase your overall "freak factor". He says that you need to forget self control and to throw yourself into situations that can make the best use of your strengths. He also says to practice "permanent procrastination", where if there is something you procrastinate on doing, to just stop doing those things altogether, since you'll never not procrastinate on them in future events. Another point he makes is to find people who are strong where you are weak. To find peoples whose strengths compliment your own and perhaps your strengths meet the job where their weaknesses don't. He stresses that teamwork and partnerships are great ways to get important things done without having to do it all by yourself. On the managerial side, he stresses choosing the right people for the job and not trying to change who people are. I think that these things pretty much perfectly encapsulate the ideas that are being taught to us now in University, the ideas of teamwork and networking throughout the industry and the cooperation and teamwork of those of us from different sections within the school of media. Like what we were doing with the cooperation of video, audio and digital media students in 203.
What are my creative strengths and weaknesses? I've often spent much time mulling over the very same question as I moved my way up the academic ladder, setting out onto my current media pathway. I think, thought, that sometimes my strengths and weaknesses change depending on what is being done, but if I had to define them, I guess they might be these:
Creative -------- Unorganized
Realistic -------- Negative
Patient----------Indecisive
Determined------Stubborn
etcetera, etcetera, you get the picture.
I have a very messy, workspace in my dorm room, but I know exactly where everything thing is, so I guess you could call it an organized mess. And perhaps my disorganization has helped me see outside the box on how things can be done and helped with my creative process. I know that definitely my stubborn-ness to keep doing my work over and over and never being satisfied with regards to finished products help me to keep trying to better my work. This "weakness" of never being satisfied, will definitely help me to keep bettering myself and my skills as I move onward in the field of digital media. And hey, if being a freak is wrong, I don't wanna be right.
No comments:
Post a Comment