Is Your Genius at Work? Part 2

Here is the second part of my reflections about the new book by consultant, coach, and fellow blogger, Dick Richards called, Is Your Genius At Work?

As I mentioned in part 1, I am not going to summarize the book, because it is intended to be very interactive. Just a few insights and snippets to pique your attention. Check out Dick’s blog, too, as he has been posting stories written by people who have found their genius.

To determine our genius, Dick suggests 1) noticing certain aspects of your experience, 2) associating the information you notice, and 3) looking beneath the surface information that you gather about yourself. Let’s look at noticing.

Here is an interesting snippet: “The first field of information in which to search for your genius is noticing what you do when you are not noticing what you do. Yes, it sounds paradoxical, but your genius comes spontaneously and easily. It is so natural that you probably don’t notice it.”

This is puzzling and intriguing to me. I wonder if I really know what my natural way of being is and how this comes across to others. I wonder if getting other people’s thoughts about this, people who know you best, is helpful?

Here is another provocative snippet: “The process of recognizing your genius is much like peeling an onion. Imagine an onion in which the outer layers represent your skills, talents, behavior, accomplishments, interests, and creations. You have developed the talents and skills you most enjoy because they allow expression of your genius. They are the means by which your genius comes alive.”

Hmmm… our skills are there to support and express our genius. This makes me think… In part 1, I put a first guess to what my genius was and called it, Plunging into the unknown. Given this last quote, I am not sure that is right. I might tweak it to say: Facilitating exploration. My most developed skills are facilitative in nature and I think my greatest accomplishments have been examples of facilitating breakthroughs. Maybe that’s it – facilitating breakthroughs.

Is Your Genius At Work is a book that will get you thinking in very helpful ways. I am still getting into it, but I can see that Dick is on to something very interesting.