A Good Helping of Famous Amos Cookies

A Good Helping of Famous Amos Cookies

During my collegiate years, I heard a sermon in which the preacher loved chocolate chip cookies.  Actually, he assured the listening congregation there would be chocolate chip cookies in heaven.  His lack of theological orthodoxy greatly offended one of my contemporaries as the preacher mentioned this forthcoming celestial delight a few times during his homiletical discourse.  Perhaps guilty of sophistry, I relished the idea because chocolate chip cookies happen to be one of my most favorite treats.  The founder of Famous Amos Cookies, Wally offers us a good helping of spiritual chocolate chip cookies as he shares hard earned lessons in starting, securing and succeeding in business.

Many people spend inordinate amounts of time and energy attempting to eliminate or neutralize their weaknesses.  They assume the lack of flaws equates with perfection.  It stands to reason that a person without limitations can achieve and excel at anything.  However, recent research trends in business, intrapersonal and organizational systems stipulate this approach is a colossal waste of time.  Rather than eradicating weaknesses, a person gains mostly by building upon strengths.  Wally “Famous” Amos reflects, I learned that I should have spent more time doing what I was good at – marketing and promoting and glad-handing – rather than trying to do all the things I wasn’t good at.  Trying to turn deficiencies into assets consumes twice the time and energy required to expand upon talent or passion.  It drains creativity and laughter from you when you focus upon tasks you simply do not enjoy.  Inevitably, your mind wanders as you wish you were elsewhere.  Amos learned after repeated trials and errors to delegate tasks that are not his strengths.

Work from your strengths instead of spending huge chunks of time compensating for your weaknesses.  Assets emerge naturally from self-evaluation.  It is important to know specifically your talents and abilities.  This knowledge in turn yields self-acceptance and self-confidence which enable you to trust your intuition.  These attributes fuel your ability to complete a task without questioning your wherewithal.  You maximize your potential when you concentrate upon your forte.  Amos says Another thing I’ve learned from my mistakes is that it’s important to work from your strengths.  Focus your time and energy on the things you do best.  Leave the rest to the other members of the team.

He learned to embrace mistakes as they yield better outcomes.  Most people shun mistakes; gloss over them; and refuse to admit them.  In contrast, Amos characterizes mistakes as the necessary pathway to success.  An old adage posits, “Show me a man who have never made a mistake and I will show you a man who has never attempted anything meaningful.”  Amos learned to welcome mistakes as building blocks of dreams.  When all is said and done, mistakes are the process through which we in turn create success.  Mistakes create the foundation for our life.

In addition to Amos’ wisdom, I recommend Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton’s book, Now, Discover Your Strengths which formalizes Amos’ experiential lessons as their primary premise.  An online test accompanies the book.  Requiring forty-five minutes of uninterrupted time, this socially scientific and methodologically respectable test delineates your five fundamental strengths.  The book defines thirty-four predominant strengths.  Buckingham and Clifton argue that a strength is a talent or skill you perform well consistently over a long period of time.  Winning one competitive swum meet does not make an Olympian of you.  Coordinating one great dinner party does not mean you are a professional events planner.  Writing one bestselling book does not mean you should quit your job and become a fulltime writer.  Rather, if you possess internal ability and self-discipline to perform a task to a superlative degree consistently, then you have a strength.  Additionally, Buckingham and Clifton insist that strengths are hardwired within us.  They do not fluctuate like fleeting thoughts and illusions of grandeur.  Amos’ experience wisely instructs us to invest in developing our strengths as they definitely comprise our characters.

Arguably, mistakes are the very best teachers in life.  However, you can minimize them as you focus upon your strengths.  Famous Amos’ sage advice also prevents you from becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none as you learn to focus upon what you do best.