That’s all. What are you good at?
I had this conversation, on a professional level, with a couple of close friends a few years ago and I often think of it. Those friends were all, like me, musicians, and we talked about music-related things.
But I don’t want this post to be job specific.
Can you describe what you are good at doing, without going into details, about your work?
How about ONE easy-to-understand work-related thing, and a couple of others, domestic, personal, whatever.
Here are mine…
I’m good at…
Arranging music, and organising people for recording sessions.
Doing the washing (looking out for the best days to actually put the washing on and know that there’s fine weather for drying)
Making dinner out of whatever’s in the fridge.
Go go go!!!!
>>>>>
I was going to say procrastination, but
Baking a loaf of bread. After ten years of practice it takes 30s to mix flour, water, salt and yeast, wait 4 hours for the prove, then into the oven for 45 mins and the rise is pretty 100% reliable. Also a lemon drizzle cake made over many years for my parents when we went to visit. Repetition is the key to all baking IMHO.
On the domestic front, I would say cooking and more specifically adapting dishes for my vegetarian wife when the rest of us are being carnivore’s.
On the work front, I’m now (early) retired, but I would saw technical leadership and problem solving – one of the things I was most proud of when I gave up was that I had developed a team that was more than capable to take on the roles. I have never been an “expert” at anything, but was technically savvy enough to understand the issues and point the experts in the team to resolve.
I’m quite good at listening to music. Since retiring from a job I probably wasn’t much good at I’ve become very handy at household chores and gardening.
I’m sort of good at using a computer. Not when compared to many of the AW boffins (I haven’t a clue what they’re talking about half the time) but compared to real people of my generation (family, friends and colleagues). Most people I know use a computer only for communication and internet, not for creativity of any sort.
I’m good at swimming.
I’m good at sleeping (‘no alarm clock’ power naps a speciality).
I am the God of Making Playlists!!!! -it says here.
Ironing. Quite particular. Satisfying and I can listen to music at the same time coz it’s quiet.
If I can be bothered, I am good at connecting and interacting with diverse people.
Hopefully, collating play lists of different genres that hang together on air.
I don’t work any more so nothing to brag about there.
I’m a good, instinctive musician and can muck in on guitar, bass or piano on most non-classical things that crop up.
I’m a pretty good cook.
I can write. If only I had something to say…
I’ve been told that I can paint and draw after a fashion.
I’m a wizz at accumulating too many books and CDs.
I developed the skills that are appropriate to be a carer. I’d rather that hadn’t been necessary.
I’m good at assimilating complex information and writing clear, correct and engaging English.
Domestically, I’m pretty good at most types of repairs and maintenance. I have a particular affinity with concrete and wood. But I’m painfully aware of my limitations and know when to get someone in.
Ironing. Although I use a steamer this days which is much more effective and far easier. It’s repetitive and easy but is quite mindful once you get into it and if you have a decent playlist or podcast on.
Eating a nice bread with cheese. Could be an Olympic champion at this but I do now need to cut right down otherwise this success will make my weight even more embarrassing and may in fact get dangerous.
Watching TV. I’m very quiet when doing so but I do appreciate it when others are the same.
I suppose I was pretty good at my actual job (30 years working in mainly colleges with SEN students, finished last November) but I was far less effective at listening to cretinous managers who had a “vision” but no actual experience. In fact I was crap at that bit. My new job of Vintage Clothes seller? Not bad so far, learning a lot very quickly but thoroughly enjoying it.
At work, I ask “why” a lot. Rather than blindly adopt “best practice” or whatever they just saw on LinkedIn or a Ted talk. Why is it right for us, what problem does it solve, and how is it better than the alternatives. It’s something valued by a some but reviled by just as many.
I used to be good with spreadsheets and computers but I’m now just OK. I have a largely useless skill in that I can identify many actors from their voice alone, although as I get more mutton, I can’t see it sustaining.
Asking “why” a lot is a superb skill to have at work. I did it a fair bit, didn’t always make me very popular though, and I think the hierarchy above need to be very confident to be able to fully embrace a member of staff who says it.
“Five whys” is one of those recent buzzwords (buzz phrases?). It can be a quite handy problem-solving tool, a bit like Brian Eno’s oblique strategy cards. I like to think so, anyway.
The five whys comes from Business Analysis, which I was very good at.
The why question is very annoying from people who haven’t bothered answering the question themselves because actually they can’t be bothered doing the work. When you complete the work, spend some time thinking about how it fits and then when you are convinced that its a mystery ask why. There’s no talent to asking why. There’s a talent to knowing why.
You must have an open-minded employer. Saying ‘why’ too often in my experience generally provoked an exasperated JFDI response.
Like I said, valued by some, disliked by others. I try to deploy it sparingly as in “why do you think we need a sales commission plan” rather than “why do I have to do my expenses every month”.
I write for a living (despite the best efforts of AI to make me obsolete) and for pleasure. It’s the one thing I feel comes naturally to me.
I feel your pain re the impact of AI on these of us who write for a living (or used to).
At work, taking badly written text and making it better. I’ve been doing it a long time, and like to think I’m good at it. I can also write pretty well, I think.
At home, erm, ironing and keeping the place tidy? Generally, I just sort of muddle through.
“Take badly written text and make it better”
“Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa
Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude”
Sorry
Wasting time
@dai
Bites tongue…
I’m generally good at sports.
I don’t play football or rugby any longer, mainly rowing and cycling now, but was playing well into my thirties.
And I can bowl and bat reasonably well when I’m asked to for the local cricket club, pretty good at tennis, and can go round a golf course more than passably.
(Less good at Wordle sadly).
I’m good at psychological assessments, and at making curries. Both are very useful.
Playing musical instruments
Improvising in general, not just music
Dealing with whatever happens
‘Coping’ is an underrated talent. I used to be a ‘coper’ until about a decade ago, when I got too ill to cope. I’m well enough to have another go, but I don’t need the hassle.
Same thing happened to me, and these days I try to avoid anything serious that requires coping skills.
Work: I feel rather unskilled now, after 25 years of working in the same service management field. I mean that I know what to do and when, and what will be a problem and what won’t without thinking too hard. I suppose I’ve become good at translating jargon into plain English. And navigating bureaucracy without swearing.
I thought I was able to write, but I can ‘t really.
At home: I play a bit of guitar. I was breathtakingly bad for literally years on end until the past few years or so. The basics have finally clicked and I have a ‘set list’ of songs I play, rather than just bits of riffs and licks. I’ve started working simple things out by ear now. Very satisfying.
Tidying. And cooking. Mrs B is semi-invalid and does as much as she’s able. I do all the big stuff and swoop around with a Dyson to get the house spick and span after we’ve all had our tea.
Work: oh yes, experience in same (or similar roles) is key to being able to navigate difficulties, curveballs, and downright silly questions.
My place (ex-Civil Service, but a legacy culture remains) keeps everyone on their toes by re-organising every 5 years (I suppose it shows an intent of progress/improvement).
“Navigate bureaucracy without swearing” fair play, there’s a skill I’ve not yet mastered
1. Making daft comments, and/or archaic references to 1970s sitcoms.
2. Spreadheets, Gantt Charts and databases (both at work and at home)
3. Making lists
iv. Using inconsistent numbering formats
5. Knowing people who can do “stuff” so I don’t have to Do It Myself (F**k It Up Myself)
6. Shopping – yes, really. Mental picture of the shop, know what I’m in there for, get around quick, and mostly choose the right till for the speediest of exits.
note: this often falls down when accompanied by Mrs D as additional items enter the trolley, and additional time is spent finding the best value deals. Vouchers and Clubcard Deals can ruin a shopping trip
7. Accumulating records, CDs, books, tools (which I hardly ever use, but it’s nice to have)
On the shop having a consistent route round Sainsbury’s and putting items into bags in a specific order is my special skill
Oh, the bagging of groceries … We have reached an agreement whereby The Light sits down on the other side of the tills while I pack as I was so wound up by her attempts to ‘help’. This has been a boon for domestic harmony.
Nothing, really…
…well, okay – self deprecation.
🙂
Oh yes: and wrapping presents, with folds and creases and “hospital corners”.
@Uncle-Wheaty might have acquired this skill too – or he may be a bit too young!
I am reasonably good at cooking and do possibly the best roast potatoes known to msn.
Was reasonably good at table tennis but haven’t played for a number of years now.
Think I am good at being a husband and at making people laugh but not good at much else.
Is loading the dishwasher a niche skill set?
Organising the cutlery drawer? Veering into OCD territory there perhaps.
Loading the dishwasher so that it cleans eveything when it it full is a definite skill. One which, in our house, only I appear to have.
Offspring the Younger seems quite good at it, too. Perhaps it is genetic? Is it in the Y chromosome? I know someone who works at the Genome campus, I’ll ask them.
Handy in the kitchen. Pretty good at steaks, risotto, pasta, chilli and salads.
Decent enough striker and fairly handy at badminton.
Good at sorting out holidays, days out and journey type stuff.
Work wise, I think I was alright at buying complicated stuff and managing teams of people who buy complicated stuff.
Not very musical, can’t sing or play an instrument but like to think I can sort out a decent playlist.
Decent musician, I can sing and write music and play a number of instruments in different styles. I’m good at fixing things. I’m great at ironing. At work I was good at problem solving, team leading, project and programme management, writing reports and comms and planning.
Apparently I’m a great Dad which is the best one.
Yes, but I am the best Dad ever. It’s official! 😜
My Dad was the best Dad ever. But we are equal second.
You didn’t hear this from me, but I’m an absolutely fucking brilliant dancer.
I am great at finding fault with others
It’s the only thing that is no bother
I’m good at using iMovie to organise and edit the family’s iPhone footage of our various overseas trips* to make home movies of pretty good calibre. I think I’ve got a good eye for selecting the best footage to include (with a sense of what friends might be happy to sit through. rather than just including everything we shot.) The best part is choosing accompanying music that either resonated with the setting at the time, or helps to enhance the vibe. Editing the footage to suit the music and vice versa is probably the best part. (1980s Simple Minds instrumentals add a really nice ambience to footage of Edinburgh in the wintertime [yes, I know they’re Glaswegians], and Doves are great to accompany any footage shot from trains.)
The actual best part is sitting with the family and watching them back, probably more often than you might think.
For all the modern talk about people never printing photos and making photo albums any more, this is the closest you’d get to a Slide Night, but with the really amazing footage that phones can produce these days.
*Australian families have ‘overseas trips’ rather that ‘go abroad’. They are usually far less frequent and far more expensive. 🙂
At the moment, it feels like there are a lot things I don’t think I am very good at, so I suppose keeping on keeping on stubbornly despite those failings is something.
Workwise, I am quite good at coming up with interesting, crosscutting activities – I invited the 20 children of my daughter’s class of 10 and 11 year olds to work, and persuaded 4 sets of colleagues to give them activities to do in groups of 5, each themed around one of the 4 classical elements of fire, air, earth and water as part of their class Fridays for Future project to explore the Sustainable Development Goals.
I started something I called A Simple Chat, where | interview 3 staff members from senior, middle ranking and junior levels, from different departments, each on their own, using the same icebreaker questions for 90 minutes, to learn about their life, their history, their interests and what they like about their job. Then I bring them together (for the first time) in front of an audience in a chat show format and get a discussion going about their similiarities and differences, encouraging the audience to join in. That seemed to go downn quite well with people.
I’m really good at mental arithmetic, and have been from an early age. If someone asks a question, I can work it out while others are still pulling their phones from their pockets.
Work – I seem to have mastered diplomacy with customers, using the right reassuring noises and tone to keep disgruntled users on side when they’re not happy. Even if the thing they’re annoyed about is a problem of their own making.
At work I’m good at dealing with high emotions and remaining calm and getting young people who don’t want to to talk about stuff to open up and go there and help them process what happened. (Like the psychologist in Adolescence but better)
In real life I’m good with words and finding the humour in most things. I tell a good yarn and have a good memory for all sorts of things so I’m good in a quiz. I’m a good problem solver in general so can give good advice and be a useful sounding board and peacemaker at times. I’m an enthusiastic musician when I get the time and have made up and multitracked pieces of music that seem much better than I can actually play even from the days of tape so it’s not all technology. I’m good at remembering people and events from my distant childhood. I was a decent golfer who never gets to play much and a handy enough footballer into my late 50s and like to think I haven’t played my last game. I’m quite good at art and making things and am delighted to see my three young kids showing talent that gets more outlets than I ever had. As they’re still so young (6, 8 and 10) I’ll stop short of saying I’m a good father until they’re raised. I certainly try my best. I make good pizza and am a decent cook. I was quite domesticated before I settled down so I’m good at most housework. I’m good at researching and making bigger purchases as well as the weekly big shop.
I am good at reading maps. I don’t mean just navigating with a road atlas. Who does that anyway nowadays? Gone the way of salt and pepper shakers. What I mean is, understanding everything that a map is telling me, which means knowing: what kind of landscape it is representing, what kind of settlements they are and their probable facilities, and exactly where I am on it at all times. Similarly, I am very good at knowing where everywhere is in Great Britain. There is an OS map in my head, probably Seventh Series.
At work, I am very good at looking at a load of shift patterns that the computer has decided is optimal, then cutting and pasting them into something much better for the drivers.
I am very good at initiating mass singing sessions in beer tents at folk festivals. Bulk, volume, tankard, repertoire. Boom!
“Mass singing sessions”: he is. Very. Even if some bugger (me) is in a tent, a field and a half away, trying to get some sleep!! 🙂
(Was it 5 am you finally threw in the towel at Bromyard, last year?)
Oh that was truly one of the best nights/mornings of the year.
I am fairly adequate in many areas. Let’s say I am a good generalist. Those I work with tell me I think outside the box. I wonder if I am just contrary. They also say I am the world’s nicest person and am rather funny. I make everyone laugh. I’ll take that. Someone who brings good vibes to the workplace it seems. I think this is needed and important.
I am outstanding in the area of recognising a song by the first few seconds of the intro though I am less good after 2010 or so. So if we say 1963 to 2010 is my best period. I suspect you lot will give me a run for my money.
I am also good at art and literature questions with Trivial Pursuit.
I struggle blowing my own trumpet (don’t we all?). Having thought about it, this is all I can come up with.
I’m an attentive, non-judgemental listener. I can solve problems, spot patterns and offer ideas. I see details and the bigger picture at the same time. I can present complex material to an individual or a large audience in an easily understood manner. When the shit hits the fan, I roll up my sleeves and get on with it until it’s done. I’m ideally suited to being a generalist, being truly expert about nothing. My best quality is the ability to build a fantastic team around me, who fill in for all my deficiencies, without whom etc. Most importantly, I care and am driven to help.
That’s interesting: before I retired, my answer might have approximated yours, Tiggs – including giving my team the credit!
I’m not going to contribute to this thread, because I don’t want anyone to feel inferior…
😀
[Wins thread]
Pretty good at playing and repairing guitar-shaped instruments.
Give me a piece of paper and I can draw cartoon animals, rockets, cars etc with a Sharpie for small children to colour in. This has come in surprisingly handy over the years.
Decent in the kitchen, especially improvising from the fridge and cupboards at short notice.
My GLW has the best skill – booking trains. She knows where to book, when and the best routes, short cuts, deals and so on. As I haven’t a clue about travel this is a godsend.
I’m good at being that person that everyone dislikes, I’m northern, a football fan, a cyclist, I drive an electric car, I’m a birdwatcher and I enjoy going on cruise ships, I suppose my only saving grace is I’m not a vegan.
I’m quite good at pub quizzes and have been known to shout at the screen when watching Popmaster. I can also sing any nursery rhyme (part of my job) and I make a mean carrot cake.
Enjoying music! If I take a liking to something, I will just dive in and rock out. I don’t expect everything to be earth-shattering but I just love to hear an artist doing their thing.
Used to always be top man in family Trivial Pursuit tournaments. Despite being poor on the sport questions. Not so good now, as my popular culture knowledge is woefully out of date. A flop at pub quizzes so far, sadly.
Systematic electrical fault finding. I can quickly find just where a fault is on a power or lighting circuit. It always surprised me how bad at this many of my fellow electricians were. I was a good competent, safe, skilled electrician, though never a quick enough worker for my former bosses liking. Happily retired from that grind.
Good sensible even-tempered driver (though somewhat prone to speeding when road conditions permit). Not reckless behind the wheel. Not a petrolhead.
Good-humoured. Respectful of others. As the song goes, It’s Nice To Be Nice. And it’s not exactly hard to be a nice person. Empathetic, though not overly-demonstrative.
It takes a lot of provoking to make me angry, though I do frequently get a bit annoyed with people. In such circumstances I prefer absenting myself over quarreling. I’m pretty good at spotting fools and I don’t bother wasting my time arguing with them.
Not great at DIY but I have basic skills and can improvise/bodge.
I like a drink but I’m not a pisshead. Can hold my drink when on the lash. Know when to slow down and when I’ve had enough. Won’t be tempted to exceed my limit. I won’t dodge my round.
Can compile a decent playlist, I think.