Plant

So it turns out I'm a plant.

My boss handed out this Belbin Team Inventory test last week to assess what kind of personalities he had in his team.

I'm a plant.

At first this sounded like a terrible thing to be, but it basically means a problem solver, creative "out-of-the-box" thinker. The kind of person you want to PLANT in every group.

That sounds a lot better! It sounds smart and mentally kick-ass. It sounds like I'm the guy with all the great ideas!

And it's kind of true. I get a lot of ideas. Some of them are really good. Some of them are terrible. Some of them are silly and some are serious. Some are for realistic businesses and some could only possibly exit in a fictitious world where physics doesn't have such a strangle-hold on reality. They come at me from out of nowhere and at any time.

"Michael, why are you complaining?" you might ask. "What's the problem with being a Plant?" Well, nothing exactly. They tend to be "absent minded," but that's no big deal. I just have to keep a spare set of keys nearby for when I lock myself out of the house or the car or just about anything that locks.

It isn't being a plant that is the problem. Not for me, anyway. The problem is that I'm not a CLOSER-FINISHER. I scored 0 as a Closer-Finisher.

I have no ability to finish anything.

These ideas are great. But they all are the same in that they will never see the light of day. They will never be finished ideas.

Have you ever seen that TLC show Hoarders? It's about people who cannot throw anything away and their houses become terrible tunnels of trash and treasures that cover the floor and stack up the walls. And all this garbage threatens to collapse in on the people within until the houses become condemned. Well, my brain is like those houses and the ideas are my trash.


I have started four books that remain unfinished. One is actually close to being half way done.
I have about three ideas for other books that I haven't even started.
I have started two comic books. One is actually pretty funny, I think. Will they see the light of day?
I started a daily comic strip that lasted a week.
I thought of a line of clothing for women that no respectable woman would wear.
I thought of a business for selling certain holiday items.
I thought of another business that would cater to role playing buffs.
I have started three animated cartoons. All of them have scripts. Some of them even have characters. None of them have momentum.
And last night I started writing the rules for a video game I would like to create.

Here are the things I have actually finished:

College - but only because my wife pushed me through it kicking and screaming.
A musical album - but I cannot take credit for it as my band-mate Franklin did all the real work.
A ton of short stories, but that hardly counts because they are really super short.
Two TV show scripts for a TV show that never made it past the pilot stage. Though I did technically finish them.

Being a Plant is great. But please, if you are a plant, make a partnership with a Closer-Finisher today!


PS. Any Closer-Finishers out there who want to manage a Plant?


PPS. This is an update of how my exercise is going. This morning when I wrote I was 165 pounds. I don't have a scale nearby, but I'm probably still pretty close to that. I had a light lunch, so maybe 163. So, there's a possibility that I may have lost 2 pounds. Go me.