Being yourself
By Gregory Ronczewski, Director of Product Design at Ibbaka. See his skill profile.
A while ago, I wrote a post titled It's time to find your talent. Inspired by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton's book Now, Discover Your Strength. Here is a quote I used in the opening paragraph:
"Skills determine if you can do something, whereas talents reveal something more important: how well and how often you do it."
Donald Clifton is known for his work on StrengthFinder, which is now called CliftonStrength 34. It looks at talent, knowledge and skills, helping us to understand and hopefully find the very special place where we are in our "element." I am now reading another fascinating book written by Ken Robinson titled—surprise—The Element. Similarly to Buckingham and Clifton, the author argues that we all have unique capabilities. Still, it is quite rare to find people who found their element—the sweet spot where one can take advantage of their talent, inspire others, and connect what is challenging to see.
What are the signs, the clues in the quest to find talent? Buckingham and Clifton suggest we look at:
Rapid learning - is this coming naturally to me while some struggle with it?
Satisfaction - do I have a sense of accomplishment after completing the assignment. We all have a feeling of relief once a task is over. Relief is different from a filling, good, happy and content.
The ability to repeat a task - can you do it again? With the same level of professionalism, attention to detail, level of competency? And feel good upon completion? If yes, that's a talent for you.
Lastly, yearning - longing to do something is another sign of possible ability.
Ken Robinson points to another path and a clever one. Creativity. What exactly is creativity? Is it reserved only for artistic endeavours? It is not. There is a link between Imagination and Creativity. Imagining is one thing. You can spend hours—like me—playing with an idea in my head. But then, to create, you need to do something with those ideas. And here is a twist. We all praise people who are "down to earth, realistic, grounded in the "here and now." And at the same time, we want to see "innovation" applied continuously to whatever project we are working on. Without the people who walk with their heads in the clouds, people who daydream and can see beyond what is already available, innovation will not happen.
Being in the element—once you find it—makes us happy, satisfied, fulfilled. It is a place where one feels relaxed. Now, this is another clue. Our knowledge and experiences stored in our brain are always there, but in time, pathways to connect them fades away. Only a relaxed mind can make great leaps and connect ideas that are not obvious—a path to innovation.
Why am I bringing back the StrengthFinder and a quest to find the element? Brent Ross, our Customer Success Manager, asked us to use Ibbaka Talent differently. Ibbaka Talent has two sides - a Skill Profile area where one can build and manage the skills and Competency Modelling module, where one can design Jobs and Roles with a focus on either a current or future vision of a team or company. So the difference was that at the same time, we are creating our roles and then, looking if indeed we land in the space we hope for.
As we all dived into the modelling environment, thinking deeply about our roles and jobs in the context of different projects and tasks, in my experience, it becomes a quest to find the element. What are the skills that I need to fulfil in a role? What are the levels of expertise? Let's ask more questions. If I want to be a great Service Designer, what are the clues to accomplish this? What skills should I develop? How are those skills connected? Can I name a project or a team where the work just took me to much higher levels? Who was on the team with me? Ibbaka Talent allows adding observers (or stakeholders) to your role or job. People who can confirm your skill self-assessment. Everything comes together, and if you peel away all the layers, skills are the building blocks. Through skills, you can trace back to the moments where work was not just working, but a flow where imagined ideas started to coming together—a deeply satisfying moment. A moment you will be yearning to.
Let's not forget that finding the medium that excites your imagination, that you love to play and work in, can offer a hint at what it is, be it writing, designing or planning. There are also, managing, organizing or directing. Again, finding skills associated with the medium that you find exciting points towards finding your talent. Now, that is on an individual level. What is even more exciting is the team application of the above. The power of creative thinking in a team setting does not come from the fact that every team member thinks in the same way. Quite the opposite. It comes from the connections between people who think differently. And from the different mediums they use. To develop creative abilities, we need to develop practical skills supporting the medium that we use.
Ibbaka Talent helps to find your talent, your element, or whatever you call it. It takes a few moments to adjust your focus to be able to identify a few essential skills. From there, our AI will guide you and suggest skills and learning paths, bringing you closer to finding this very special place where everything feels right. Don't delay, ask for Ibbaka Talent Demo.
