In David Rendall’s manifesto “FREAK FACTOR: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness” he gives ways to get around one’s weaknesses and use them as strengths. He gives nine ways one can utilize their weaknesses. They are all valid, and great ways to boost your standing in the world, but three stood out to me.
One of those three is his point that there is nothing wrong with you. We are all human, and we all have weaknesses. With every weakness, though, comes a corresponding strength. Rendall gives three examples of weaknesses that come with a strength, one of the being disorganization. He says that with disorganization comes creativity. The guy who discovered penicillin found it by searching through his cluttered desk. Albert Einstein had a messy desk, and is quoted as saying, “if a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, what is an empty desk a sign of?” Another weakness Rendall talks about is dyslexia. A lot of millionaires and CEO’s of big companies have it. The author tells us that experts believe dyslexia leads the sufferer to be more able to see the bigger picture of things and think outside the box, leading to them being better strategic thinkers. The third weakness Rendall illustrates is addiction. He tells us a story of Todd Crandell, who was addicted to drugs, but is now a very successful triathlon participator. He didn’t get over his addiction; he just switched it from drugs to triathlons. All these are examples of people who saw their weakness, saw that there is nothing wrong with them, and used their strengths – the strengths they wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the weakness – to thrive. This is a great way to use your weakness to better your life.
The second point that stood out to me was not because it is a valid point, but because I did not agree with it. That point is that you shouldn’t try to fix your weakness. A study was done about people that tried to fix their weakness, and more than half of them said the same thing: it doesn’t work. They said that it was a slow, and very difficult process. They said it was painful; that no one really wants to work on a weakness. They said that trying to fix their problem distracted them, and kept them from giving their all to another project. The main point is that when you correct a weakness, it doesn’t give you a strength. It doesn’t give you something valuable to use against anything. I used to be afraid of heights, and I have now gotten over that. However, it actually did give me a good skill. I got a job teaching rock climbing and rappelling after I got over my fear. I fixed my weakness, and it did give me a new strength. Getting rid of that weakness has shown me that I can actually do it, and I have a new kind of courage; a courage that will allow me to have more fun. I love rock climbing and rappelling now, and I plan on going skydiving. I would not have this valuable strength of courage if I had not fixed my weakness, so that is why I don’t agree with this point.
The third point that stood out to me I do agree with, however, and that point is that you should build on your strengths. Rendall says that your strengths are “what you love to do…what you do well.” He tells us why you should build on those strengths, and that’s because it feels good to. When you strengthen your strengths, you get a feeling of accomplishment. He also says that you should work on your strengths because that’s where you have the greatest potential. When you keep growing in your strengths, you will be able to accomplish more and more in that area. In high school, I realized that I have a great strength when it comes to media technology. I built on this strength by getting involved in different places in my school where I could learn more. I got to be the Editor-in-Chief of the yearbook my senior year by doing so. I showed so much growth in my strength of using a camera and the computer software that the advisor asked me to fill that position. I also got involved in the drama club as the techie. I got so strong in my technical skills there that whenever there was a problem of any kind (tech-wise), I would be the first person they could call. The point is that I inserted myself into positions that would enable me to build upon my strengths, and it worked. That’s why I really agree with this point that Rendall makes.
My strengths as far as the creative process goes would be the arrangement of ideas. Like I said above, I got really proficient with the editing and display software we used for our yearbook. When I am given bits of a story, and told what the end product should be, I can arrange the bits, the individual ideas, in such a way that it gets the big idea across effectively. However, with that strength comes the weakness of not being as effective at thinking up the original ideas, and I’m fine with that. It’s more fun for me to arrange the ideas than think them up anyways.
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