Why you should boost strengths rather than focusing on weaknesses

Oh, to have a group like the Fantastic Four on your team!

For those unfamiliar with this Marvel quartet, each member possesses one extraordinary skill. 

Reed Richards has the ability to stretch out his arms and legs as though they were made out of rubber.

His girlfriend, Sue Storm, can render herself completely invisible.

Sue’s brother Johnny takes “light my fire” seriously and can turn himself into a human torch.

And finally, there’s the grumpy but rock solid Ben Grimm who may not be much to look at but has a body that’s literally made out of granite.

If Ben Grimm thinks he’s grumpy already, imagine how he might feel if his manager helpfully sent him to a few classes to improve his social skills. Or if someone had the bright idea of trying to train invisible Sue to light up like her brother Johnny.

The problem with many well-meaning companies is that they devote too much time attempting to give everyone on the team an identical skill set instead of recognizing they’ll get more bang for their buck by focusing on individual skills their team members already possess and training them to be even better.

Instead of teaching ultra flexible Reed how to be more like a rock, how about training him to reach even farther? 

If you take a tip from these four superheroes and focus on boosting their existing strengths instead of trying to make them what they’re not, you may find that your results are, well, fantastic!