Is Your Genius at Work?

“Is Your Genius at Work? : 4 Key Questions to Ask Before Your Next Career Move” (Dick Richards) is a remarkable book. Here’s the concept:

– Every person has a genius — a unique ability, something he or she is innately well-equipped to do.

– Discovering your genius will help you understand why you do well at certain kinds of tasks — and why other kinds of tasks are not quite your cup of tea.

– You’ll be more successful in work and life if you can identify your genius and integrate it into the work you do every day.

– For the ultimate in fulfillment, discover your purpose (your personal mission) and use your genius to pursue it.

While the book has been written with an eye toward readers interested in job changes and career moves, you don’t have to be shopping for a new position to benefit from the stories and exercises it contains.

Here’s an example: reading Is Your Genius at Work? helped me put a finger on my own personal genius: Creating Experiences. Before reading the book, I’d never realized how central to my entire personal and professional life my need to create experiences really is:

– When I was happiest at SkyTel, I was creating experiences for the sales force — designing hands-on classes and games designed to help sales people have fun while learning about our products and services. When WorldCom bought us out and made me into a full-time manager of unhappy people, I no longer delighted in my job.

– I’m constantly sharing stories about my day and my life with friends. In the process, I sometimes tend to (hmmm — how to say this nicely?) enhance the episode. I’m not trying to be deceptive; instead, I’m trying to tell a story in a way that helps the listener feel exactly as I did during the incident. In short: I’m creating an experience.

– My books — even the books I haven’t written yet — are all attempts to create fun, engaging, and enlightening experiences for my readers. I like thinking about what kind of text (questions, exercises, stories) will give people an experience they’ll remember.

– MadeByMark.com is, essentially, an effort to package my experiences for readers around the world. When the site is at its best, total strangers can grasp, even if only for a moment, what it’s like to be me.

This list could go on and on — because creating experiences is and always has been central to who I am and what I do best. Creating experiences is my genius.

Knowing this can help me make better choices with regard to how I invest my energy and what kinds of assignments I accept … and help me be more successful and more delighted with my work.

So … what’s your personal genius? And how well have you integrated that genius into your life and work? Is Your Genius at Work? is a quick and easy read. Spend a little time with its stories and exercises. Trust me — this is one of those books you’ll read … and thank me for having recommended it.