I really think Individualization is a,
it's a theme about people. It's in the Relationship Building theme
and if I were to kind of
summarize and kind of shorten the definition I think it's,
it really is a theme that gives people a clear
perception about human uniqueness. And it's that perception that really
can lead to helping a person treat
and approach a person in a relevant way. So that's the definition. And what I
really like to do when I think about themes and I don't know
if I've done this quite as much on Theme Thursday but
I think sometimes themes get clearer when you compare them
and contrast them to other themes. So I'm going to do that a little bit
to try to shed some light on this theme. First of all,
it's interesting that the theme that is most likely paired
with Individualization is Relator. Many times, not always, but the
theme that is most likely paired with Individualization is Relator. And
so a Relator is...
Individualization is really about insight into a person,
insight into people. Whereas Relator is about intimacy with a person, getting
closer to a person. So
they're kind of close that way, they have a lot in common.
Individualization is about knowing a person intuitively.
It's really being able to kind of pick up on who someone is
sometimes without even spending a lot of time talking.
Just kind of intuitively understanding who someone
appears to be, what makes them tick. Whereas Relator,
Relators also get to know people but it really involves kind of one-on-one
interaction over time. And obviously if you've got both of those
that could really enhance the intuition and the interaction; both lead
to a better understanding of a person.
I think another theme that has some things in common with Individualization
is Empathy. And Empathy is a,
both of these themes are Intuitive themes.
Individualization, as I've already said, is someone who's intuitive about knowing
who someone is.
Empathy is someone who is intuitive about knowing how someone feels.
Again similar, they kind of fit together,
but they're slightly different.
A couple of themes that I think you can kind of contrast with Individualization,
the first one is Connectedness.
And just because they're different does not mean that you might
not have both of them
high, but the it helps to kind of shed some light.
Individualization, obviously is about the individual perspective.
It's about really paying attention to a person.
Connectedness is more of, for many people, it's kind of a global perspective.
The bigger picture of the world. So you've got
person, you've got people, you've got
human being, you've got humanity. So that's how
Individualization and Connectedness. Sometimes I use the metaphor
"People with Individualization see the tree,
people with Connectedness see the forest." And
so it's kind of the microscopic/ telescopic. But this
theme we're going to be talking about today is about the people,
the tree. The kind of the microscopic perspective
of who someone is by nature; what makes them tick.
And then one final kind of a contrast here is
Individualization and Consistency and these are the two themes
that are least likely to be paired together.
If you have high Individualization the odds that you're also going to have
Consistency
are pretty rare and I think it makes some sense. I think there's some
logic to that because these are really two very different
themes with regards to perspective. The person with Individualization is really
interested in being
relevant to the person:
"I want to make sure that what I do, what I say, how I approach someone
fits who this person is." The person with Consistency is a bit more interested in
the efficiency of the group.
It's more about, "It's not about you, it's about us."
It's a more of almost a corporate kind of
feel to it. It's kind of like the difference between psychology and
sociology.
Psychology is about the person, sociology is about the group. And I think it's the
same kind of
difference that exists between Individualization and
Consistency. Individualization is about customization
whereas Consistency is often about standardization.
Standard operating procedures, "We all have to do the same thing," that's
standardization.
Individualization is, you know, "Different strokes for different folks"
here. And then finally I think
Individualization is about capitalizing on uniqueness
and Individualization [Consistency] is about minimizing differences.
Some of the nouns that we would use, I think I probably already used them with
someone with Individualization. They're kind of
customizers. I think they're observers of people.
In many ways they're acceptors. They really
have an appreciation of the, I call it the diversity of humanity. They kind
of like it that people are different. They don't want everybody to be the same.
May be kind of anthropologists, you know
students of people. In terms of some adjectives, I've have already used some.
Intuitive. I think, there is an intuitive part to this theme.
Perceptive, insightful,
people-oriented, astute, and diversity loving.
It's interesting I think the Clifton StrengthsFinder is really a tool for
people who are low in Individualization.
It's a system that enables us to see the distinctions that exist between
people even though we might not have that talent. Some
kind of metaphors or maxims, I mean
it's the "one size does not
not fit all." I think that is a great statement to kind of
catch the essence of it. I also just saw
this phrase on, this quote on, I think it was on Facebook, on one of the StrengthsFinder websites,
somebody put up so whoever put it up thank you. It was called,
"Be yourself, everyone else is taken." I like that.
I think it was Oscar Wilde who said that. "Be yourself, everybody is taken."
The other thing is Don Clifton used to tell the story about
this school, I think there was rabbits and squirrels
and fish and how they sent everybody to school and they were
teaching the squirrel how to
probably swim. And teaching the rabbit how to climb trees, and they were
trying to teach the fish how to run. And
obviously you know these things were not made to do those things and so the whole
idea about individualizing the approach to people
I think that story is a a great illustration for it.