AI has become a fact of life. No matter which industry you’re in, it will have an impact. I bet that’s not something you would expect in one of my blogs 😉 But If you want to stay ahead of the bots, I believe you need to lean into your zone of genius! And that ties in with my part of the world!
If you haven’t yet heard of your zone of genius, you’re in for a treat. If you do, this refresher might support you in living there even more.
So what’s a zone of genius?
In his book The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks introduced the four zones that all your activities fit into.
The Zone of Incompetence
As the title indicates, these are all the activities you’re not good at. Interestingly enough, most of us spend much more time in this zone than we should. And it’s costing you precious energy and time.
For example, I have no skill whatsoever for computer programming. Even though I took a class to learn the Pascal programming language when I was fourteen. Because it was the future.
That’s why I happily hire my web guy to make changes on my website. This example is so clear there’s no discussion. But how often have you done things around the house (or perhaps even in your work) that would’ve made more sense to outsource or ask someone’s help with?
The Zone of Competence
You’re competent at activities in this category but many others can do them just as well—likely much better. Many people spend a lot of time in their zone of competence. The problem is that the activities in this zone are not fulfilling. When you have a sense of unfulfillment, you may be spending too much time and energy in this zone.
I have an MBA so I have all the skills and knowledge needed to create my own profit and loss statement. But it doesn’t bring me any joy (understatement of the century.) And I must admit my accountant is much better suited to take that task off my list.
I believe many people get burned out because they’re not spending enough time doing work that lifts them up and feels meaningful.
The Zone of Excellence
These are activities you do extremely well. In fact, you’re so good at these things—and likely make a very comfortable living off of it—that it’s tempting to stay in this zone.
For me this happened when I was facilitating brainstorming sessions. That’s how I started out my business and I was good at it. I did make a comfortable living but I got to the point where it no longer fulfilled me. I was happy with the results it brough people and that fueled me for some time. But deep down I knew there was more I could do and felt called to do.
That was before I ever read Gay’s book. But at that time I intuitively knew what I later read in his book “The problem is that a deep, sacred part of you will wither and die if you stay inside your Zone of Excellence.”
The Zone of Genius
I’m going to quote the book here because Gay said it so clearly:
“Liberating and expressing your natural genius is your ultimate path to success and life satisfaction. Your Zone of Genius is the set of activities you are uniquely suited to do. They draw upon your special gifts and strengths.”
My zone of genius is tapping into what lies beneath the surface, help people get clear on what the root cause of a problem is and show the way towards a solution. According to clients I’m adept at finding the “red threads” and connect dots they didn’t even realize existed.
One of the things I’ve learned about working in my zone of genius is that it often feels natural and easy. That’s not to say you didn’t put in the work to hone your skills and gain a lot of experience, but it can feel effortless compared to the work you do in any of the other zones.
I think that’s one of the reasons why we often overlook our zone of genius. Because we think it can’t be that simple or that activities that feel so effortless and joyful can’t be all that special or worthy. Trust me, it is. And the world needs you to find it!
AI increases the need for being in your zone of genius
When I read Mark Schaefer’s latest blog post ‘It’s time to discern the role of humans in an AI world’ he got me thinking about the zone of genius again. Mark basically says that competence won’t cut it anymore because artificial intelligence is competent and will only get better. Our invitation is to out-human the bots.
“If you’re “competent,” you’re vulnerable. Being merely competent is a liability. AI already owns competent — In many cases AI is spectacular.” — Mark Schaefer
I think you should be thinking about unlocking your zone of genius and living there more and more regardless of AI. But with AI it’s no longer this ideal that you strive for—it’s a must!
That’s why I invite you to take a moment and look at these four zones from a work perspective.
When you think about the work you do, how much time and energy do you spend in each of these four zones? Do you even know what your zone of genius is? What changes can you make to spend more time in your zone of genius?
Where to start?
If you’re not sure what your zone of genius is, then I recommend you begin there.
If you do know (or suspect) what your zone of genius is, then be honest about how much of your (work) time you spend there.
If it’s less than half your time, look at how to increase it. What are tasks you can outsource or delegate? Which responsibilities might play to someone else’s strengths? How can you use AI as a smart assistant to become more efficient and effective? How can you free up time, energy and possibly resources to ensure you can excel?
These are crucial questions to ask yourself for a variety of reasons:
- To use your time and energy most efficiently and to guarantee you add the most possible value to your organization or job.
- To ensure you do work that’s most fulfilling. That lifts you up and helps you thrive.
- But perhaps most of all to futureproof yourself! To make sure that you’re doing the one thing that only you can do.
Only time will tell how big the impact of AI on our lives will be. But if there ever was a moment to start embracing your zone of genius, I believe it is now!
PS Are you curious about what your zone of genius is? Want help getting clear how to spend more of your time doing the things that make you thrive and feel alive?
>> Secure your deeply discounted Life Navigation Session today.
PPS There are many limiting beliefs and old patterns that can surface when you start thinking about your zone of genius. If they do, I’m here to help.
