In love, they say opposites attract. Two people with different strengths complement each other to make the whole stronger.

When it comes to our strengths, we’re told that if we hold a trait, we should avoid the one that sounds the opposite. For example, if we’re creative, we shouldn’t lean into our analytical or logical selves and vice versa.

But, the reality is that sometimes combining these traits creates a 1 + 1 = 3 outcome. We solve problems creatively all the time, we communicate serious concepts with a sprinkle of humor, or we move with speed while also being risk-aware.

We all know Steve Jobs was a visionary. Often, when people are big-picture thinkers like Jobs, they leave the details and execution to others.

But, Jobs famously cared about even the smallest details like what the inside of the first Macs and iPhones looked like and even the products’ packaging. Both completely unheard of in tech before Apple stormed onto the scene.

This story highlights the extremes he went to:

Designed to be opened slowly, the packaging mimicked that post-announcement wait. Opened from the top, there’s a long moment until gravity overcomes a slight vacuum and surface tension, and the bottom slowly descends.

Time stands still as layers of the box are revealed, with some elements wrapped like origami. There is a suspense created in the time that it takes.

Jony Ive said, “Steve cared about the entire phone experience from the time you opened the box. We designed a ritual of unpacking to make the product feel special. Packaging can be theater. It can create a story.”

As we all know, the best story wins.

Howard Marks is perhaps one of the best debt investors of all time. Debt investing isn’t exactly the epitome of an industry with high-risk tolerance known for speed.

Yet, when the Great Financial Crisis hit, Marks deployed 6 billion dollars in less than three months. The trade netted Marks’ investors $6 billion more and $1.5 billion for his firm Oaktree Capital.

After Oaktree completed these trades, Marks famously wrote, “Unless the financial system collapses completely, today’s purchases should return substantial capital to our investors.”

The best trades in the firm’s history weren’t brilliant strokes of mathematical genius. Instead, Marks used his instinct and speed two traits rarely associated with the world of distressed debt and usually not required to win in the asset class.

The trick to all of this is knowing when to switch gears. Sometimes, I’m an ambitious, hard-charging investor who takes no BS. Sometimes, I’m the dad who sends his kid to school with a Whoopie Cushion for show and share. (yes, I did that.)

I believe in accentuating strengths. If you’re going to beat the competition, you must do so on your terms and in a way that plays into your strengths.

But sometimes, we need to be the person the moment needs. We can combine our strength with a polar opposite trait to meet it head-on.

The opposing forces can push us into a new point of view on the problems we’re trying to solve. They can enable us to see new solutions we couldn’t have considered before. Those are tools worth striving for.