My daughter, who’s in her first year at university, is going for an interview for a part-time job this week. So, I’ve been helping her prepare. Luckily we have access to all the Harrison Career Navigation reports to do this. Every young person should have these reports to help them (and their parents) make better informed career decisions.
However, the inevitable issue of how to deal with those “dumb” interview questions came up. You know the ones like “What are your weaknesses?”. Duh!
Why is this a dumb question?
Because all meaning depends on having a context. I could answer that I’m sometimes impatient and in some contexts this may be perceived as a weakness. However, if the building was on fire and I was a fire officer on your floor a healthy dose of impatience might be what’s necessary!
The alternative way
A more useful way to explore someone’s strengths and weaknesses is to look for balancing traits in their profile. The unique technology for doing this is Harrison Assessments Talent Solutions (HATS).
Certain behavioural traits may be considered a strength. However, too much of a trait may turn into a potential de-railer or a weakness if not counter-balanced by a seemingly opposite or paradoxical trait. See also my recent post on Donald Trump.
A balancing act
For example, in the realms of Leadership and Strategic ability, if I have a high preference for taking risks but do not balance this by an ability to analyse pitfalls I may become extremely Impulsive and make some major mistakes. Likewise, if I tend towards being highly optimistic about everything and once again don’t balance this with an ability to analyse pitfalls then I’m likely to become Blindly Optimistic.
You can often hear signs of this in how people express their strategic endeavours. They’ll use words such as “hope” when asked about the likelihood of a particular approach or strategy working. This is not useful in leadership roles.
The opposite of this can also cause concern. Why? Because someone who is extremely high on analysing pitfalls but very low on taking risks may become overly cautious. Likewise, when compared against being optimistic a person may appear very sceptical. This can lead to very little getting done!
What about team imbalances?
Aside from individual imbalances, what do you do when teams have imbalances? This can have serious consequences for an organisation if it’s not addressed. Conflict can lead to missed deadlines, missed sales and cost over-runs. Worse still, you can lose some of your best people if these issues are not addressed.
Getting the balance right
The very positive aspect of Paradox Technology is that it enables individuals and teams to understand themselves better, identify their strengths and take real concrete actions to address their weaknesses or blind spots. It enables them to get the balance right!
To learn more or to test Paradox Technology for FREE please contact me.
