full transcript

From the Ted Talk by WorkLife with Adam Grant: When strength becomes weakness

Unscramble the Blue Letters


AG: Marcus Buckingham wants to redefine a srtgenth, not just as a thing you're good at, but --

MB: ... an activity that strengthens you, an activity that makes you feel strong. You are at your best when you are not only performing well, but doing so in such a way that it invigorates you to keep prcaciitng.

AG: I bet there's something you're good at but can't stand doing. For mucars, that task is meeting peolpe at cocktail parties.

MB: Mingling. If I was at a party with you, it would look to you as though I was totally enjoying myself as I featlod hither and yon from one conversation to another. when actually, the pseurrse of getting into one conversation with some person and then finruigg out the right length of time to talk to them when I'm looking over their shoulder, wreorid they're looking at me looking over their shoulder to try and figure out how to exit that conversation and get into another one, the whole thing feels like I'm a) annoying and upsetting people all the time, b) they can see I'm being superficial because I'm not handling myself properly as I move into one conversation and into another.

Open Cloze


AG: Marcus Buckingham wants to redefine a ________, not just as a thing you're good at, but --

MB: ... an activity that strengthens you, an activity that makes you feel strong. You are at your best when you are not only performing well, but doing so in such a way that it invigorates you to keep __________.

AG: I bet there's something you're good at but can't stand doing. For ______, that task is meeting ______ at cocktail parties.

MB: Mingling. If I was at a party with you, it would look to you as though I was totally enjoying myself as I _______ hither and yon from one conversation to another. when actually, the ________ of getting into one conversation with some person and then ________ out the right length of time to talk to them when I'm looking over their shoulder, _______ they're looking at me looking over their shoulder to try and figure out how to exit that conversation and get into another one, the whole thing feels like I'm a) annoying and upsetting people all the time, b) they can see I'm being superficial because I'm not handling myself properly as I move into one conversation and into another.

Solution


  1. floated
  2. pressure
  3. figuring
  4. people
  5. worried
  6. practicing
  7. marcus
  8. strength

Original Text


AG: Marcus Buckingham wants to redefine a strength, not just as a thing you're good at, but --

MB: ... an activity that strengthens you, an activity that makes you feel strong. You are at your best when you are not only performing well, but doing so in such a way that it invigorates you to keep practicing.

AG: I bet there's something you're good at but can't stand doing. For Marcus, that task is meeting people at cocktail parties.

MB: Mingling. If I was at a party with you, it would look to you as though I was totally enjoying myself as I floated hither and yon from one conversation to another. when actually, the pressure of getting into one conversation with some person and then figuring out the right length of time to talk to them when I'm looking over their shoulder, worried they're looking at me looking over their shoulder to try and figure out how to exit that conversation and get into another one, the whole thing feels like I'm a) annoying and upsetting people all the time, b) they can see I'm being superficial because I'm not handling myself properly as I move into one conversation and into another.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
jpmorgan chase 6
free throw 4
logic bully 3
michael hartle 2
organizational psychologist 2
marcus buckingham 2
remedial world 2
marcus started 2
overusing strengths 2
career advice 2
high standards 2
gates foundation 2
incremental improvement 2
sam saperstein 2
stop working 2
laura morgan 2


Important Words


  1. activity
  2. annoying
  3. bet
  4. buckingham
  5. cocktail
  6. conversation
  7. enjoying
  8. exit
  9. feel
  10. feels
  11. figure
  12. figuring
  13. floated
  14. good
  15. handling
  16. invigorates
  17. length
  18. marcus
  19. meeting
  20. mingling
  21. move
  22. parties
  23. party
  24. people
  25. performing
  26. person
  27. practicing
  28. pressure
  29. properly
  30. redefine
  31. shoulder
  32. stand
  33. strength
  34. strengthens
  35. strong
  36. superficial
  37. talk
  38. task
  39. time
  40. totally
  41. upsetting
  42. worried
  43. yon