What do you think about the barrel principle and leveraging strengths?
I'll share my thoughts to stimulate your thinking and hopefully be helpful.
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The barrel principle tells us that the amount of water in a barrel is determined by its lowest plank. Therefore, we are often taught that according to the barrel principle, we should strive for balanced development. We should do things we don't like (such as doing laundry) or study subjects we don't enjoy to make up for our weaknesses. However, the reality in society tells us that people usually only remember others' strengths and not their overall abilities. For example, we remember Yao Ming for his excellent basketball skills and Jiang Wen for his realistic, vivid, and profound acting in movies, but we find it difficult to remember the countless characters or protagonists in thousands of other films.
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This brings us to the topic of leveraging strengths. Leveraging strengths means that in personal development, we should persist in developing and maximizing our interests or strengths. This will make our strengths unique characteristics, such as Adele's voice or Tyrion Lannister's knowledge and wisdom in "Game of Thrones".
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The two can be mutually transformed. On the surface, they may seem contradictory, but in reality, they are closely related and can easily transform into each other.
3.1 On the surface, the two seem contradictory. The contradiction lies in the emphasis on strengths, which seems to focus on the highest plank of the barrel and does not necessarily increase the water capacity of the barrel. It seems that the barrel principle is more reasonable. On the other hand, "leveraging strengths" believes that mediocre and ordinary people are not competitive, and balanced development is impossible to achieve. It also won't make people remember you or improve your competitiveness.
3.2 However, the two are actually connected and can be transformed into each other.
3.2.1 Regarding the barrel principle, it cannot be truly applied in reality. It is just an ideal model, just like how we cannot find a perfect circle in life. In reality, we always choose our viewpoints and actions based on our preferences. Therefore, our seemingly balanced development is actually based on our preferences in developing our abilities and improving our knowledge.
3.2.2 Regarding leveraging strengths, the true realization of strengths requires the improvement of a person's comprehensive qualities. A person with strong programming skills becomes so by familiarizing themselves with one programming language and then integrating and understanding other programming languages.
3.2.3 Therefore, the two are not independent but rather have different focuses or directions of thinking. The barrel principle emphasizes that we should have a broad understanding and investigation of problems and develop corresponding abilities or competitiveness. Leveraging strengths emphasizes that we should have a deep and unique understanding of problems, focusing on seeing through the relationships between people and things and grasping things more profoundly.
3.3 Relative balance and relative strengths
For personal development, there is no absolute balanced development, and it is impossible to achieve absolute balanced development. In relative balanced development, there will always be strengths.
In conclusion, regarding the barrel principle and leveraging strengths, many familiar concepts are not as straightforward as they seem. They require us to think deeply and analyze, knowing that familiarity does not equate to true understanding.
Note: Unless specified, all content is original (not written or contributed by AI).
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