Synergy In Diversity
When I saw the above picture, it dawned on me that Nature teaches us more than we're willing to learn. Over the years, I've built bonds and surrounded myself with people, professionals that compliment my areas of weakness and limitations. Likewise, I compliment them in some of their areas of weaknesses too. That way, I've built a formidable circle that leverages each other's strengths.
We all have individual strengths and weaknesses, likewise we have a very short time to live here. You'll lose many opportunities if you focus too much on your weaknesses and limitations instead of building your strength, the easy way around that is to associate with people that are strong where you are weak.
Let me drive it home with one or two examples. I suck at maths and have limited understanding of numbers, neither am I a fan of academics or things pertaining to it. However, I'm strong with people and communication, as well as organization and execution. I feel excess documentation wastes time and would rather get to work on guts and impulse.
However, the world doesn't completely operate that way. We need the numbers and we need the communication. We need the documentation as well as the execution. So, I work with people good at documentation and numbers and we have a wholesome result.
Over the years, I've focused on improving and getting better at my people and communication skills instead of trying to learn and master mathematics or Agile methodologies and the likes. Not to reduce their efficiency, but I've come to realize that we can't be everything in life, and we can't all be one thing.
The doctor will need the vulcanizer when she gets a flat tire, so will the vulcanizer need the doctor when his wife wants to deliver his baby.
School or street, blue collar or white collar, fortune 500 or kiosk, ministry or military, assertive or meek, talkative or reserved, calculative or impulsive, flamboyant or frugal, no strength is greater than the other, we need each other. We're endowed differently so we can appreciate and harness the opportunities embedded in diversity.
See more of my stories and works at onaopemipo.com
