Focusing on your strengths vs. trying to improve your weaknesses

i had to take this strengthsfinder test for work, pretty much a standard work-focused personality test. but the interesting thing about it to me is that the whole point is identifying your strengths and then focusing on utilizing your strengths, rather than trying to improve your weak areas. instead you're supposed to team with people who fill in gaps in your skills with their own strengths. i've always been the opposite, where i try to think about areas where i suck and then figuring out how i can suck less at those areas, so i can at least get started on everything by myself instead of relying on other people. i guess it's about being really good at a few things and using your time wisely by focusing on those strong areas and just admitting you suck at the things you suck at VS. trying to become a well-rounded person.

expanding this from a work environment to life in general, which do you think is more important: focusing on your strengths or trying to improve your weaknesses?

in personal life i think it's good to improve your weaknesses, especially if they affect people around you that you care about. in the office i understand from an efficiency point why it would be best to group people together based on strengths/weaknesses instead of having employees preoccupied with doing things that other people in the office do quite fine. i worked at a very small office for a bit that hired people based on how their personality tests lined up with who they might be working closely with.

basically my opinion is:

at work: concentrate on honing strengths, as that's what really counts re: advancement etc; shore up weaknesses if your job allows you the luxury

in personal life: your weaknesses are much more likely to have a detrimental impact on your relationships, therefore it makes sense to try to improve upon them (for example, if you have issues being monogamous, it's probably a good thing to figure out why and see if there's a way you can adjust/change that if you want to be in a long-term relationship with one person)

been thinking about this a lot lately in terms of work and music, and i'm all about "focus on your strengths". it's freeing to admit to sucking at things and being ok with that (not that it's a free pass, but it's better than setting unrealistic expectations for yourself and others).

i played a jazz gig the other night, and even though i hardly play or practice jazz anymore (maybe 2 gigs in the last year) it felt great. i'm pretty sure that's because i went into it with the attitude that i wouldn't try to play anything at all that i wasn't confident in, i.e. nothing beyond my ability.

If the weaknesses are preventing you from focusing on your strengths, maybe you should take care of them first. Otherwise, I am a big fan of the focus on strengths approach. There are lots of things that I do poorly, but the decision to go into my current line of work was a decision to just accept what I do well. It has worked out...pretty well! And I'm not nearly as uncomfortable as I used to be.

Self-sufficiency is great but not if striving for it makes you feel like shit all the time.