Freak Factor

David Rendall's Freak Factor Article
This article written by David Rendall is very insightful. Rendall gives 9 really valid suggestions for overcoming weakness. I chose to analyze 3 suggestions that hit closest to home for me.
#5 Foundation: Build On Your Strengths
The point Rendall is making here is to work hard on your strengths.You have the greatest potential to succeed in the areas you are strong, so keep working on those areas and you will have a better chance at success. Your strengths will make up for your weaknesses and eventually make them irrelevant.

I could incorporate this idea into my creative life by focusing strictly on the things I'm good at. For example, I am very good with Photoshop. So instead of trying to get better at Garageband I could simply just focus on Photoshop.

#4 Forget It: Don't Try To Fix Your Weaknesses
What Rendall is trying to say here is working on your weaknesses is a waste of time. No one likes working on their weakness so it is usually painful and slow.

I however don't agree with David here. I believe that we should work on our strengths more then our weaknesses, but I don't think we should completely ignore our weaknesses. Some day we may need to use one of our weaknesses and if we have no experience with it , it will only make us weaker.

#7 Fit: Find the Right Spot
Here Rendall talk about matching talent with roles. He uses the example of Rudolph the red nose reindeer to get his point across. Basically what he is saying is we all have flaws, but we just need to find the right fit for them.

I also agree with this suggestion. I think everyone has someplace where they fit in and we should really look for that place. This could be translated into my creative life by when we worked in groups. Everyone had their own weaknesses and strengths and the key was finding the right combination of people to get that perfect fit where everyone worked well and made good work. I noticed this the most with my first lab partner. We were a perfect fit for each other, we both had ideas and we were able to work them together and shine where the other person couldn't.


When people think of themselves they like to think that they are perfect and that they don't have any flaws. I however have realized over this quarter while taking this class that I actually do have quite a few. My greatest two weaknesses are procrastination and originality. I often procrastinated through out the quarter and spent many late nights finishing up projects. I'm not sure that originality is the right word but I often through out the day come up with good idea, but I will forget to write them down and I eventually end up forgetting them. So when it came to crunch time to finish a project I had no original ideas. Despite the weaknesses I do also have some strengths. I would say my main strength is working well with a group.