A talent by any other name...

I had the good fortune this weekend to attend the wedding of one of my old co-workers with several co-workers, most of whom no longer work for the organization (J had the bad fortune to join me and spent much of the evening being 'left out' of the general conversations as we caught up and shared memories.  One of the things we joked about had to do with a personality test that employees were given in an effort to help us better understand ourselves and our co-workers.  In it, we found that I am generally what is referred to as a "yellow"--an easy-to-get-along-with, encouraging, pleasant person.  Yellows work well in groups and generally try to be sure everyone is involved in decision-making.  When stressed, I become "green".  Greens are generally your finance/accounting detail-oriented people.  In my case, when I go green, it generally means that a spreadsheet is close behind.  This part of me is also keenly interested in 'rules'--knowing them and being sure everyone follows them. 

I'm not a terribly exciting person to be around when I 'go green'.  I know this, and I generally try to mask it as best I can (because really, if I'm green for too long, even I don't care to be around myself).  But I realized this weekend that my green tendencies are a real talent.  If you want to know the rules to a game, I'm your girl.  Same thing with knowing how things work (I'm a fan of reading the instruction manuals, as well as a fan of the show "How It's Made").  And seriously, I think I could teach a course in Excel (2000...I've not had the opportunity to become familiar with 2007).  Today, when a friend asked me to think about ideas for a cake that will be served more than four months from now, I immediately put together a sketch and sent it off for approval. More times than I can count, I've irritated my best friends from college by pointing out that there may have been some rule-breaking going on (sometimes from the legal perspective, sometimes just the rules that have evolved over the almost fourteen years of our friendship).  These quirks make me resistant to change and slow to adapt, but doesn't that also mean I am reliable and consistent?  I think that's a talent, and I'm glad it is one I have.