Why do I have a navel?

Bill Zipp, a contractor who does workshops for ADP, led my department in an examination of our Strengths as determined by Gallup's Strengthsfinder Index.

This has led to some further self-exploration, especially one exercise: he had us write a short paragraph as a mission statement-type-thing based on our Strengths.

This year, my Strengths are:

Strategic

Input

Learner

Command

Self-Assurance

My mission-y statement was something along the lines of "I'm an 'idea-rat' (referring to a Dilbert cartoon). I am energized by mapping out solutions to problems."

Since I identify myself as a problem-solver, Angela (my newest co-worker) asked why I didn't have Restorative. After all, that's the real "problem-solver" strength. As Gallup puts it:

People strong in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what's wrong and resolving it.

Great question! After some thought, I realized that I really don't care about resolving the problem. I care about figuring out a solution based on my perception of the problem. Now, I do solve the problem because I want to test my solution against the real world to see if it works. But the fun lies in putting together all of the pieces and coming up with a creative solution. Which sounds a whole lot more like strategic:

People strong in the strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

This was also my main impetus as a wannabe Social Psychology researcher.

Which gets us down another whorl in the belly button.

So, today on my nine mile walk (the last really long one for awhile), I started to put this insight together with my values. Which I'm choosing to exemplify by the inspirational material I keep on my desk. Hold my hand as we decend another layer.

One item that I need to locate, but is also one of the most important things I've had, is an IBM(?) advertisement that shows James Watson holding a model of the DNA double helix. He's one of my personal heroes - taking all of the bits and scraps of evidence from the people who came before him and coming up with a simple, elegant solution. Sound familiar?

I also have several quotes:

The wind and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigator. - Edward Gibbon

This, to me, means that luck mostly happens to the expert - partly because they're the ones that can recognize it happening.

On my walk, I added on to this with a couple of bon mots of my own, "Some people can recognize an opportunity if it bites them in the ass. Perhaps because they don't realize that's what opportunity mostly feels like: a bite in the ass." And, "When God closes a door, he opens a window. And we know what to call people who go around throwing themselves out of windows."

Good artists borrow, great artists steal. - Pablo Picasso

This to me means that, if you are going to use something of somebody else's (and who doesn't?, as a matter of fact it's encouraged in the profession...) then make it your own.

Be like the bird that, pausing on her flight; Awhile on boughs too slight; Feels them give way beneath her, yet sings; Knowing that she hath wings. - Victor Hugo

This means that I shouldn't accept a situation where I'm not valued. Even if I leave without knowing what I'm going to do next, I'm strong enough to be ok.