Blog — Ben Lewis

One of my former bosses gave me a profound piece of advice that, over the years, has become increasingly valuable. It applies to not only the workplace but also in life - ‘pick your battles’. It's about knowing when to fight for something, and when to rethink your strategy.

The concept is broken down into three aspects:

1. Can I win this fight?

This one is fairly simple - don't engage in battles you cannot win. Consider the situation, think about all the aspects, and be honest with yourselves - can you succeed? If not, then don't embark on a pointless endeavour.

I can share an example of this. I've had an instance in the past when there was going to be a change that impacted me, my department, my staff, and our area. I knew that this change was inevitable. It was coming from much higher up in the organisation than me or my boss and wasn't something we could change. There was no sense wasting time and energy fighting an unwinnable battle.

In this example I knew the best course of action was to not fight it, but to embrace the change. I was then able to look at the smaller details that I had control and influence over. I was never going to stop the change from happening - but I could mitigate and protect my staff.

2. Is it worth it?

Look at the battle and consider if you engage in it - will the result justify the efforts put in to win it? Instead of the common saying “the ends justify the means” look at the means and consider if the end is worth it. Do you feel passionately about it?

If you burn yourself out for two weeks on something, fighting a battle, and the end result is something small and trivial - did you really win? You could have used that time and effort doing something else.

3. If I win, what will be the outcome / impact?

This last one ties into the “is it worth it” concept a bit - but the idea is to consider the end impact and cost after the battle is over.

For example, if you proceed with a new project that had a limited benefit - but in the end, you ruin your good working relationship with another department because of how it impacts them, it may not be worth it. Did you have to call in all of your favours with a particular person to win? Did you really do what is best? Consider the end consequences.

It applies to work and in life.

One thing that dawned on me As I considered this advice more is - this applies to life as well.

Think about the three aspects above and the idea of “picking your battles”. I am certain there are times in your life you can use those three criteria to help you decide when to fight and when to change tact.

If you have never heard of a Gallup's Strengths assessment, then I'm going to give you a bit of run down into what it is from my perspective.

What is a Gallup's Strengths assessment?

Strengths based assessments are a semi-new concept when it comes to leadership. Instead of a more traditional approach of looking at looking at your strengths and weaknesses, and focusing on improving your weak areas - this approach focuses more exclusively on your strengths.

Gallup's contends that there are about 36 key strength-types that exist, and that we all display them in varying amounts.

The puroose of doing a key-strength assessment is to determine which are your top 5, or the ones that you use the most / are best at.

My own Strengths assessment came back with the following 5 key strengths;

Strategic
Ideation
Input
Adaptablity
Individualisation

1. Strategic

I'm thrilled that my top strength is strategy. In a nutshell, people that excel in strategy create alternative ways to proceed. When they are challenged or face a situation, they can quickly spot relevant patterns and issues. I can definitely see this trait in myself, I am often pulling lots of different information together quickly, from various areas, and manage to piece things together very quickly.

Strategic people also tend to be quite inventive, imaginative, and able to sort through lots of information to come to decisions. In this, they are able to transform an obstacle into an opportunity. There is also an innate drive to acquire knowledge and/or skills. I'm definitely someone that is always eager to learn more, gain new skills, and improve myself. Given the above, you'll like be able to leverage your vocabulary to express yourself with ease and grace.

2. Ideation

If there was a good match for strategy, it would be to be paired with 'Ideation'. People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. I am able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

People with ideation are usually logical and reasonable. They can reduce mechanisms, processes, proposals, and ideas to their basic parts. They figure out how the pieces interrelate. Further to the idea of being logical, they deal with information in an objective manner. Which I feel comes from my science background.

When participating in a group, people with ideation tend to be involved - introduce more questions, suggestions, solutions, and innovations. They also are likely to archive, preserve, your thoughts, ideas, and discoveries so you can use them later. This is definitely the case for me - as I love writing down notes, saving useful information, and reflecting on professional and personal matters.

3. Input

People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Instinctively, you are likely to recount and share stories you have read in newspapers, books, magazines, research reports, correspondence, or public records. I enjoy storytelling and evoking strong imagery in people's minds.

4. Adaptability

People who are especially talented in the Adaptability theme are often able to handle changes and be quite flexible. They may appear to "go with the flow" but often use highly attuned intuition to make the right decisions as events unfold. This comes across as accommodating, particularly when plans need to change suddenly. I've noted that in a hospital environment it's been invaluable to have this skill. Some have voiced that having 'dynamic adaptability' is a key skill of a leader.

5. Individualization

People who are especially talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively. I really enjoy meeting new people, learning about them, and understanding them. This helps me consider things from each individual’s perspective.

Instinctively, you gain a certain degree of satisfaction when you can be of some service to others.

Because of your strengths, you might aid certain individuals by making recommendations, suggesting changes, or providing advice. You enjoy sharing your point of view.

Why should you do one?

Simply put, so you can 'know thy self'.

For me, I found the assessment to be amazingly accurate. It managed to do a great job of identifying which areas I'm strongest at - without being gimmicky or generic.

I found it useful in providing insight and facilitating self-reflection. For example, I was able to appreciate that my drive for information and gathering knowledge can actually turn out to be a weakness. I can, at times, spend too long gathering data and information rather than just completing the task at hand. I jokingly refer to this as 'paralysis from analysis'. Now that I am aware of this, I can monitor myself and safeguard against it.

If you are interested in Gallup's Strengths Assessment, visit their page.

I would highly recommend conducting this on yourself, and any leaders in your team.

If you do conduct an assessment, let me know what you thought of it!

Pick your battles

What is a Gallup's Strengths assessment, and why you should do one.

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