Strengthsfinder 2.0
Lifelong learning includes learning about you.
I recently read a book and took the assessment for a methodology called StrengthsFinder 2.0. I make it a practice to continually learn and especially continually learn about myself. There are a number of these social psychology type methodologies available that try to organize the messiness of the ‘soft’ topics around people and behaviors. The best ones give you unique insight into yourself and others by providing a different, cohesive lens on behavior.
This meshes nicely into self-improvement projects and also may give you some insight into your life purpose and how to align with that. There are many of these methodologies, some better than others, and StrengthFinders is a useful one because of the lens it chooses. What I really enjoy and appreciate about these methodologies, and I have probably learned a ½ dozen or so, is that moment when a light bulb goes off and a particular interpersonal anomaly becomes obviously explained by the tension between your behaviors and someone else’s.
StrengthFinders starts with the assumption that we have inherent strengths and, by definition, weaknesses. It walks you through examples of attitudes and behaviors that help you qualify what your strengths are and what the strengths of others may be. There are 36 discrete strengths that these folks have built through their research. There is an explanation of each. There is a companion questionnaire that you take and it spits out your top five strengths.
What I like about this methodology is that it focuses entirely on strengths. It makes the point that we waste too much time and energy trying to change our weaknesses into strengths. You should understand the hand you’ve been dealt and figure out how to make the most of your strengths, whatever they are or you’re going to be a miserable round peg in a square hole.
It’s also a bit of a ego stroke because no matter what your top 5 are it’s ok, it’s positive. You’re a good and worthy individual because you have those strengths, (let’s not worry about those weaknesses).
At times it reads like a cross between a high school guidance counselor and a daily horoscope, but if you look beyond the weaknesses you can pull out some nuggets.
The major weakness I find in these methodologies is that they attempt to make binary weighting on multi-dimensional spectrums. What I mean is they want to define you as either ‘A’ or ‘B’ and people are more complex than that. While taking the survey I was often stuck because both answers sounded good to me. For example something like; “You’d rather stay at home a play games on the computer” versus “You’d rather go out for drinks with friends.” I like both of those and don’t see them as mutually exclusive.
In reality that points out one of my strengths, which is that I’m in the middle of the spectrum for most of these methodologies and that makes me very versatile. My point is that you have to remember the shades of grey in these things.
The other caution I would have for you is that don’t take the survey, then turn around and shoot the results out to your boss and all your friends. Give it a couple of days to percolate and figure out why they would care. Otherwise you’ll fall victim to what I call ‘Airplane Magazine Syndrome” – that’s when your CEO reads an article in an onboard magazine and is so besotted he or she changes company strategy on Monday morning and looks like a total Bozo to the whole company.
Now, since I know you’re dying to know, here are my top 5 strengths:
- Strategic
- Input
- Ideation
- Communication
- Learner
What were my light-bulb-over-the-head insights from this? First, what was not a surprise to me were strengths 2-4. Clearly I’m that guy who would read a book, take the survey and then synthesize it into a blog post for you! Duh.
But, the Strategic one was a interesting topic for me. They define Strategic as:
“Driven by your talents, you may feel wonderful when people value your innovative ideas. Perhaps you help them envision what can be accomplished in the coming months, years, or decades. Because of your strengths, you select the right combination of words to convey your ideas or feelings. In the middle of discussions, your vocabulary provides you with precise phrases and terminology. You probably express yourself with ease and grace. Chances are good that you might generate certain types of ideas quickly. Occasionally you draw links between facts, events, people, problems, or solutions. You may present numerous options for consideration. Perhaps your innovative thinking fosters ongoing dialogue between and among associates, committee members, teammates, or classmates. By nature, you characteristically find the right words to express whatever you are thinking. You offer explanations, discuss ideas, give examples, or share stories. You effectively use the spoken word. It’s very likely that you may be viewed by some people as an innovative and original thinker. Perhaps your ability to generate options causes others to see there is more than one way to attain an objective. Now and then, you help certain individuals select the best alternative after having weighed the pros and cons in light of prevailing circumstances or available resources.”
Besides making me feel like a big ole stud, they nailed a bunch of my effective personal behaviors. In the detail they talk about my ability to see patterns and connect things in a way people without this strength can’t. Essentially I can see around corners by projecting the patterns into the future and this comes in handy in business. Sometimes this gets me in trouble too because if you’re always thinking a couple steps into the future people can steal your bacon in the here and now.
Bottom line, this was a fun and interesting exercise well worth the $25 and hour or 2 I spent on it. It gave me some insights and was oddly encouraging. For all its faults, I think the methodology is worth a swing, just be careful not to get too wrapped up in the lens, because it’s just a lens and the real world is infinitely more complex. Remember there are always shades of gray, (no not that kind, get your mind out of the gutter).
What do you think?
Chris,