The Yin Yang symbol is a well-known symbol in East Asia. The Yin Yang is an ancient Chinese philosophical approach and a holistic, dynamic, and dialectical worldview, methodology, and life wisdom. The Yin Yang thinking has had an enormous impact on Chinese philosophies, martial arts, medicine, science, literature, politics, daily behavior, beliefs, thinking, and other areas for thousands of years. The Yin Yang philosophy suggests that there exists neither absolute black nor absolute white; every universal phenomenon embraces paradox and change. Yin and Yang cannot survive without each other, and they complement each other, depend on each other, exist in each other, give birth to each other, and succeed each other at different points in time. The Yin Yang symbol, a circle divided into two equal halves by a curvy line, one side of which is black (Yin) and the other is white (Yang). Yin represents “female” energy, such as negativity, darkness, softness, moon, night, weakness, coldness. Yang represents “male” energy, such as positivity, strength, sun, brightness, day, hardness. The white dot in the black area and black dot in the white area represents coexistence and the unity of opposites.
And just like the Yin and Yang, our weaknesses and strengths coexist in everything. The Yin and Yang give rise to, complement, and reinforce each other. The Yin and Yang exist within each other and interplay with each other to form a dynamic and paradoxical unity.
What are Your weaknesses? And what are Your Strengths? Do You have the answers? Do You struggle with any of these questions? Unfortunately, the majority of people is a quick to answer about its weaknesses. Yet, one cannot build competence and success on weaknesses. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is equally important. A trap You can easily fall into is to try to “fix” Your weaknesses. No one can be good at everything. While trying to be good at everything and improve areas of incompetence and/or low competence, people set themselves up for mediocrity.
Due to rapid changes, the labor market situation and the pressure that comes from society and organizations, people often tend to “fix” themselves in order to “fit in”. Organizations and society want people to meet change rapidly. Wearing “different hats” seems to be appreciated and rewarded by many organizations. Instead of embracing strengths and leading people based on strengths, companies and individuals fall into the trap of building competence out of incompetence or low competence. As a result, we have poor (in best case good) individual and organizational performances, problems with motivation and engagement, health and well-being.
However, it all can be different. It can be better. It can be great. We need to raise awareness of our own and other people’s strengths and weaknesses. It is fine to have weaknesses, it is natural. All it takes is a new perspective. From a new perspective, we are able to lead ourselves and other people based on strengths not weaknesses. Knowing your and other’s weaknesses is important so we can learn to manage them. In some cases to stop trying to improve something that someone else can do better in other cases to find the right way and get weaknesses under control, so they can work for us.
Commonly, accountants will find themselves lacking people skills. Human beings are often too complex for a good engineering mind and HR people can struggle with reading and understanding spreadsheets with numbers, while being at ease with reading other’s. weaknesses and strengths. We need them both.
Strengths and weaknesses, the Yin and Yang is all You!
