We all know people who are hyper-organized. This becomes a major advantage for them. They have an incredible attention to detail. They have the ability to keep track of complex projects.

But if we had to describe their weaknesses we would likely point to their rigid mindset. We would describe an inability to deviate from their organizational systems.

While obtaining my MBA a teacher explained to us that a strength overdone becomes a weakness. At first, I thought that was ridiculous. If we focus on our strengths and continue to grow and improve, it doesn’t mean they become weaknesses. But the truth is that if we overdo our strengths, they can become weaknesses.

How can we make sure we don’t overdo our strengths and instead focus on growing and improving them? If we have a strength what is the key to gaining value from it?

Athletes

Professional athletes represent an elite group of individuals with physical and mental attributes. This gives them the opportunity to compete on the largest stages in the world.

A professional athlete that I admire is Steve Young. Steve Young was a quarterback (QB) for the San Francisco 49ers. He is a Hall of Fame member which means that he represents the best of the best.

One thing that made Steve Young successful was his ability to improvise. He would adapt and adjust when the play didn't go as planned. He could run the ball if receivers were covered. He was able to do this better than most quarterbacks, even at the NFL level.

Today there are a large number of quarterbacks that rely on that skill set. They have the ability to extend plays and scramble for more yards. Yet somehow most seem to struggle at the NFL level.

Experts argue that to be successful in the NFL they have to be able to escape the pocket and run when necessary. But their first option should always be to find a receiver downfield. These run capable QBs often struggle with this. It is the opposite response to what these individuals tend to do.

Instead they use their ability to run. They don't focus on passing the ball once the play breaks down. The problem is that modern defenses have figured out how to defend these players. This means that these plays are not effective.

On one pre-game show, Young said that QBs need to learn how to pass instead of immediately run. He said to do this they need to “work until it becomes reflexive recall.” He said that they needed to continue to work on the habits they will rely on during the game.

He said to fine-tune those habits in practice to give them the best chance at executing in the real game. This doesn’t mean strengthening their running ability. It means adjusting their habits to respond with the best play. It isn't blindly following their strength.

Unfortunately, too many athletic quarterbacks never develop these habits. Instead they rely on their strengths at the detriment of their overall performance.

To grow strengths but not overdo them, you need to identify the key habits. Then you have to work hard to make sure they represent the optimal movements. You can't focus on the comfortable movements.

In other words, the strengths that made them successful start to become limitations. They need to be able to break away from them to succeed. To do this, Young argues, one needs to form new habits.

Musicians

I owned an audio engineering company for over 8 years working with all types of artists. The strength of most artists is the ability to be flexible and creative. Yet I have seen that this creative mindset, when overdone, hurts them. It often turns into a lackadaisical or overwhelmed attitude.

When it was time to get serious and focus on the task at hand, they had a very difficult time doing this. This left many projects half completed. They would tend to get so creative that they couldn’t narrow things down to make progress. They would burn out from the project. Then they would want to move on to something new.

As an audio engineer I would try to work around these limitations. I would encourage them to find small steps to complete throughout the process. Instead of doing half of each project, I would focus on getting one completed.

The key is to understand this natural tendency of someone who is very creative. Then we adjust the habits to make sure they are not overdoing it. For the individual to improve, they have to work on those habits.

Military Special Forces

Military special forces are able to accomplish incredible tasks. They are precise in how they execute. Yet they can’t truly account for every possible situation that might occur.

How are they able to be so rigid in their tactics yet so flexible at the same time? How can they follow such a disciplined path but still account for variables of war?

The more I study this group the more I realize that it is because they train for every possible situation. They don’t train for things to go perfectly. They incorporate random changes in their training. This helps to account for those unpredictable variables that they may encounter.

This helps to develop habits that they can rely on when things don't go as planned. They have the habits necessary to be flexible. To develop these habits, they are very disciplined. In this case their discipline gives them flexibility.

Preparation and Adversity

The best teams are often the best prepared. They prepare and prepare and in doing so they encounter variances. These help them to understand the many variables that are outside of their control. This develops habits so that they can quickly adapt when problems arise.

When I was in high school, I played on the football team. We would help the offense practice their plays by imitating opponent's defense. We would emulate the opposing defensive structure to give the offense the chance to practice against what they would see on game day.

Often a coach would approach someone on our scout defense and ask us to do something unusual. It may be to charge upfield instead of getting into pass coverage. Or it may be to change the coverage at the last second. The goal was to see how the offense responded to these unusual and unpredictable actions. The result would become a valuable lesson. It presented a simulated level of adversity.

We all face adversity. Adversity gives us the variance to grow and improve without overdoing our strengths. Through adversity, whether real or simulated in training, we grow.

How to Avoid a Strength being Overdone

If you are improving aspects of your life, be aware of how you use your strengths. Overdoing them will create weaknesses.

To avoid this, learn to focus at the habit-level. Are your automatic behaviors using your strengths as a crutch? Is there a better method but you feel comfortable following your old routines?

Developing the right habits helps avoid over-reliance on strengths. We can prepare and incorporate randomness to help us overcome adversity. We can structure our response to unpredictable variables.

This will help us continue to grow. It will keep our strengths from turning into weaknesses. It will help us move beyond our current limitations and reach the levels of success that we desire.