Journal entry for MdS 3001W

1. What five strengths did you identify?
2. For each of your five strengths, describe 2 examples or situations in your life where you used that strength. 

My first strength was “ideation.” This means that I love ideas and making connections between things. This has been true throughout my life. One example is as recent as the forum discussion for this week, linking Jared Diamond's deep lessons from previously collapsed societies to our current situation and the criticisms leveled by the Occupy movement. My recent fascination with truisms, especially if they are considered a bit quaint or archaic is another example of my love of ideas. I have found that almost always even the most seemingly anachronistic sayings have something meaningful to say even in our current situation.



My second strength was “adaptability.” This is perhaps the strength that has been the biggest savior as well as sometimes a challenge. My adaptability has never served me better than over the last year as my entire life has been turned upside down – quitting my job, separating from my wife and children, moving to another city to return to school. Any one of those could have sent me reeling if I was not ready to “respond willingly to the demands of the moment.” The way adaptability can get me in trouble is when “on some level [I] actually look forward to [sudden requests or unforeseen detours].” When things become too well planned or routine, I can start to resent the order and subtly undermine it, even to my own detriment.



My third strength was “strategic.” I have used this throughout my life as well, usually identifying it as a tendency to see the “big picture.” The most recent good example of using this strength is when I led an effort to revamp the budget and bylaws of the North Dakota State Association of Letter Carriers. I was able to see the patterns in the complexity and find workable solutions. Another example of my strategic strength in action is when I arranged to have my kids watched so that I could with help from two relatives and a friend who passed them along over 9 hours and all parts of the Twin Cities. None of those three knew what exactly was happening, but they knew their parts and I could see how it all came together.



My fourth strength was “relator.” The entire description of this strength rung true with my experience of how I form relationships with people. I don't actively seek out new associates, but look to strengthen existing bonds. One place this can be seen is in how often I have returned to the same jobs after a period of time – Rainbow Foods, Young Quinlan Garage, ADC Telecommunications and Al's Breakfast have all employed me more than once with at least a year off in between. Personal relationships follow a similar pattern. For example, almost everyone I've spent any significant time with since I've been back to Minneapolis is family, an old friend, or a friend of an old friend.



My fifth strength was “learner.” This is one of the easiest strengths for others to see in me, as I am constantly reading, listening to podcasts, watching documentaries, reading magazines, etc. or talking about one of them. The most striking thing to me is how this strength interacts with my “adaptability” strength. The learner description that I “thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one” both complements the adaptability theme and describes me well. However, when my learner strength draws me to formal educational settings, my adaptability sometimes feels put upon and leads to the restlessness described above.