Strengthen Your Weakness

Haven't you seen all kinds of advice telling you to improve your strengths and delegate your weaknesses? It seems to make obvious sense, doesn't it? But does it really?

People already seem to focus on their natural strengths and avoid their weakness. Boys who aren't good natural athletes will probably leave sports and physical life behind unless they are encouraged not to do so by the creation of opportunities for success at lower levels of performance.

Likewise, people who are not naturally pugnacious will probably shy away from the martial arts. But should they? I don't think so. Some skills are too essential to delegate and ignore.

The same thing is apparent in gender segregation. Supposedly, men do better at some things and women at others. The traditional wisdom has been to force them to follow their categorical gifts. But that leads to ignoring individual talent.

And, even if the traditional overgeneralized view was true, would it make sense for a man or woman to ignore basic skills that could be delegated to a spouse? The consequences are well-known. I've heard of many women who left their household finances to their husbands only to find when their husbands died that they didn't know what they had or where to find it or how to manage it.

Focus on your strengths? Yeah, but.

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