It doesn't work, and it breaks a person down psychologically. Far better, Buckingham argues, to focus on nurturing people's existing talents. But there's no denying an element of truth in Buckingham and Coffman's conclusions. Change is very difficult under the best of circumstances. Typically, managers pay less attention to nurturing people's existing talents than they do to trying to fix their deficits.
Most companies treat every one of their people the same.
They play checkers with them. The best managers play chess with their people, knowing that every person is different. Some employees perform better with an explicit set of procedures and rules, for example, while others are less effective when faced with such rigidity. One person may give praise by bringing everyone together in a group, and getting them screaming and clapping. Another manager may write beautifully crafted little notes to people and never say anything to the group as a whole.