In 2008 I joined the ever growing strengths movement, I read several of the books and ultimately took the Gallup Organizations ‘Strengthsfinder‘ assessment. My results are below, (in their words) I would recommend both the books and the assessment as valuable to individuals and organizations. (Download a Copy)
Strategic
The Strategic theme enables me to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows me to see patterns where others simply see complexity.
Mindful of these patterns, I play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps me see around the next corner. There I can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles.
Guided by where you see each path leading, I start to make selections. I discard the paths that lead nowhere and I discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. I discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion.
I sort and make selections until I arrive at the chosen path–my strategy. Armed with my strategy I strike forward. This is my strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.
Learner
I love to learn. The subject matter that interests me most will be determined by my other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, I will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting to me.
I am energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what I have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered–this is the process that entices me.
My excitement leads me to engage in adult learning experiences–yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables me to thrive in a dynamic work environment where I am asked to take on assignments and am expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one.
This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that I seek to become the subject matter expert, or that I am striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant that the “getting there.”
Activator
“When can we start?” This is a recurring question in my life. I am impatient for action. I may concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down I know that only action is real. Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance.
Once a decision is made, I cannot not act. Others may worry that “there are still some things we don’t know,”but this doesn’t seem to slow me down. If that decision has been made to go across town, I know the fastest way to get there is to go stoplight to stoplight. I am not going to sit around waiting until all the lights have turned green. Besides in my view, action and thinking are not opposites.
In fact, guided by my Activator theme, I believe that action is the best device for learning. I make a decision, I take action, I look at the result, and I learn. This learning informs my next action and the next. How can I grow if I have nothing to react to? Well I believe you can’t.
I must put myself out there. I must take the next step. It is the only way to keep my thinking fresh and informed. The bottom line is this: I know I will be judged not by what I say, not by what I think, but by what I have accomplished. This does not frighten me, it please me.
Ideation
I am fascinated by ideas. What is an idea? An idea is a concept, the best explanation of the most events. I am delighted when I discover beneath the complex surface and elegantly simple concept to explain why things are the way they are. An idea is a connection. Mine is the kind of mind that is always looking for connections, and so I am intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection.
An idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges. I revel in taking the world we all know and turning it around so we can view it from a strange buy strangely enlightening angle. I love all these ideas because they are profound, because they are novel, because they are clarifying, because they are contrary, because they are bizarre.
For all of these reasons I derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to me. Others may label me creative or original or conceptual or even smart. Perhaps I am all of these. Who can be sure? What I am sure of is that ideas are thrilling.
Input
I am inquisitive. I collect things. I collect information–words, facts, books, quotations–or I might collect tangible objects, insects, baseball cards, or old photographs. Whatever I collect, I collect it because it interests me.
Mine is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. I read a great deal but it is not necessarily to refine my theories but, rather, to add more information to my archives.
I like to travel because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why I might need them, but who knows when they might become useful
With all of those possibilities in mind, I really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So I keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps my mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.
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- Steve Rucinski (21)
