# SWOT By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2023-09-22 In business, organizations routinely conduct a SWOT analysis. SWOT analyses focus on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Each element is essential. Collectively, the analysis provides a robust assessment of the context in which the organization finds itself. People, too, can benefit from doing a SWOT analysis. Knowing one’s strengths is the basis of understanding how to add value. Understanding one’s weaknesses is how one knows with whom one should collaborate. Likewise, awareness of one’s opportunities is essential for pursuing them with vigor. Lastly, the threats one faces inform one’s focus and preparation. Admittedly, there are important things that fall outside a SWOT analysis. That is okay. One can do more than one thing. One can do a SWOT analysis and other forms of analysis and reflection. The point is that SWOT provides a relatively concise way to think about essential context elements, and this understanding can be beneficial. Ideally, one can conduct these assessments with openness. This can be challenging when the area is viewed negatively. Commonly, a strength is viewed positively, and a weakness is viewed negatively. It doesn’t have to be this way. A weakness can be viewed positively or neutrally. It “is.” One doesn’t need to have an opinion about its desirability; simply understanding its existence is beneficial. The same is true for threats. Unhelpful opinion adjudications burden much analysis. Seek first to understand. If one can conduct a SWOT assessment accurately, one will understand better what courses of action are potentially rewarding and which will be more difficult to pursue effectively. This understanding can help one avoid unnecessary struggle and frustration. #### Related Items [[Analytics]] [[Assessments]] [[Situation]] [[Judgement]] [[Value]] [[Understanding]]