The advice to "build on your strengths" has become very popular, and is very good advice, but it doesn't eliminate the fact that we have weaknesses, and that sometimes those weaknesses affect our productivity and the change we want to make in the world. This five-minute talk delivered at a networking event of the Twin Cities Young Nonprofit Profession Network gives both strength-based skeptics and adherents practical strategies for dealing with weaknesses.

1. KUO Hsing-
Chun of
C h i n e s e Ta i p e i
C r e d i t:
Singapore
2 01 0 Yo u t h
Olympic Games

2. C r e d i t: J o
C h r i s t ia n
O te r h a l s

3. OUR APPROACHES TO
WEAKNESSES SUCK

4. APPROACH #1
Try harder
“If I beat my head against the wall long enough, the wall will
surrender”

5. APPROACH #2
Carrots and sticks
“Maybe I can trick myself into doing it”

6. THE PROBLEM IS
Willpower is finite

7. AND
Returns are
limited

8. We can do better

9. A STRENGTHS-BASED
APPROACH TO Richard
Matson-Daley
WEAKNESS

10. REDEFINE WEAKNESS

11. Anything that
makes you less
than perfect

12. C r e d i t: C h a r l e s
( d o l l s t uf f . n et )

13. Does it stand in the
way of what you are
trying to
accomplish?

14. A STRENGTH THAT YOU
DO NOT HAVE

15. Alter your context
What looks like a character problem might be an environmental
problem

16. Partner with
others
Two strengths are better than one.

17. A STRENGTH
MISHANDLED

18. Identify the
strength

19. Learn more about
the strength

20. Learn about other
people

21. Richard Matson-Daley
Twitter: @RichieDaley