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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I took the test, and read over the chapters that applied to me, but i am just not interested in reading the other chapters, and so, I am going to just pass this on.
Great - i skimmed most of it. I think the test was interesting, but I wonder what it would be if I took it again post MBA.
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
There may be 174 pages in this book, but you end up reading only about 50 if you're simply using it as the tool that it is to discover and learn more about your specific strengths. The first 30 or so pages were an introduction to the concept of working to develop your strengths rather than working to fix your weaknesses. I'm on board with that idea, but it's not a new approach for me. After those 30 pages, you go online and take their assessment survey. You select the thing that most resonates with you and rate it along a scale. I do wish that in their instruction they were clear about how scale impacts your responses, specifically noting that neutral responses carry no weight in your evaluation. I understand that would likely have resulted in less authentic responses and may have yielded less relevant themes. However, I can't help but wonder what my strengths would have been if I HAD to choose one thing or the other. Once you discover your talents, they give you some "personalized" insights and suggestions for an action plan. You do need to take time after you receive this information to come up with a plan to live and work from your strengths. I look forward to the reflection and planning. All in all this is a fine & speedy read. I am not walking away with a whole lot of new knowledge. I was already familiar with the concept, and my results were not surprising to me at all. I wish I read through all the themes and picked which I thought might be my top 5. It did reinforce things I already recognized in myself, but I'm prone to that sort of introspection.
The assessment allows for a clearer view of the strengths you possess and how to maximize their effectiveness for you.
Hmm... This is interesting book to learn your so called strengths. I feel that if i took this test in two weeks I could very likely come back with different strengths. Additionally all of my strengths were contradicting eachother.
The begining of the book is so hard nosed about your weaknesses that it is on the verge of making you feel worse about yourself for having any weakness.
The begining of the book is so hard nosed about your weaknesses that it is on the verge of making you feel worse about yourself for having any weakness.
More like a reference & you must take the test for it to be useful!
After reading the first book in this topic, "Now, Discover Your Strengths", I was rejuvenated. I learned the 5 areas of my greatest potential strengths. I felt them to be quite accurate. Tom Rath wrote the sequel, "StrengthFinder 2.0" soon after the publication of Buckingham and Clifton's book and I wanted to read this book for two reasons:
First I wanted a free pass to Strengthfinder 2.0 assessment to check my results against my initial score. Despite the accuracy of my 5 themes, I wanted to challenge the fool-proofness of the test.
Second, I wanted to delve more deeply into practical applications of my strengths.
Funny enough, things hardly go as planned. As for my first reason, curiosity got the best of me and I made my husband take the test instead. What would it be like to know your partner's strengths? Would that help or challenge the relationship? Would opposite strengths be likely to weaken or strengthen the relationship? Would similar partners be compatible or boring?
As for the book, it is more of a reference than something you read cover to cover. You want to first take the test, which is a lot of fun but needs focus and undivided attention, and then learn all about your own strengths, then maybe compare yours to others to better understand them and find ways to do things in such a way as to benefit your relationship with them.
Overall, I do believe and recommend the StrengthFinder program.
After reading the first book in this topic, "Now, Discover Your Strengths", I was rejuvenated. I learned the 5 areas of my greatest potential strengths. I felt them to be quite accurate. Tom Rath wrote the sequel, "StrengthFinder 2.0" soon after the publication of Buckingham and Clifton's book and I wanted to read this book for two reasons:
First I wanted a free pass to Strengthfinder 2.0 assessment to check my results against my initial score. Despite the accuracy of my 5 themes, I wanted to challenge the fool-proofness of the test.
Second, I wanted to delve more deeply into practical applications of my strengths.
Funny enough, things hardly go as planned. As for my first reason, curiosity got the best of me and I made my husband take the test instead. What would it be like to know your partner's strengths? Would that help or challenge the relationship? Would opposite strengths be likely to weaken or strengthen the relationship? Would similar partners be compatible or boring?
As for the book, it is more of a reference than something you read cover to cover. You want to first take the test, which is a lot of fun but needs focus and undivided attention, and then learn all about your own strengths, then maybe compare yours to others to better understand them and find ways to do things in such a way as to benefit your relationship with them.
Overall, I do believe and recommend the StrengthFinder program.
I found the "strengths" finder itself a little superficial and the "more 1 or 2" way of ranking the questions didn't really fit for a lot of questions, so I ended up down the middle of many of these and don't feel that it was overly accurate. As a personality test, the one that comes with the book is not enough, but you can certainly give them more money through the online site to delve a little deeper.
When determining what to do with these newfound strengths, there was just not enough there for me - it seems you have buy the higher membership online to get more out of this. My department read this together as a group at work and I don't really feel that it told us anything we didn't already know. Again, maybe if we had paid extra for the additional content online, but we really weren't going to do that.
The personality info that was provided was good enough and as a group we were spurred into some interesting conversations, but I don't honestly know that it was because of the book or the Strengthsfinder 2.0 quiz.
When determining what to do with these newfound strengths, there was just not enough there for me - it seems you have buy the higher membership online to get more out of this. My department read this together as a group at work and I don't really feel that it told us anything we didn't already know. Again, maybe if we had paid extra for the additional content online, but we really weren't going to do that.
The personality info that was provided was good enough and as a group we were spurred into some interesting conversations, but I don't honestly know that it was because of the book or the Strengthsfinder 2.0 quiz.
Usually, I'm not a big fan of personality-type books. Supposedly, they are a general unveiling into what motivates a specific person or how that person likes to communicate. I operate on the assumption that human beings are complicated and not only may their personality, giftings, or style of communication change over time, it may change depending on what group they are hanging out in.
Admittedly though, "Strengthsfinder" has an interesting concept. The author, Tom Rath, spends the beginning of the book ripping the movie "Rudy" (of all things). His problem with the film is obviously not an artistic critique but the thematic message. Rath argues persuasively that Rudy given his size and talents should not have been a football player. The whole climax leading up to the sack at the end was built on someone performing a task that they were not good at. While Rudy's strength was not football, his talents lay elsewhere and he was missing out on an opportunity to connect with what he would be truly great at doing and further developing those skills. Hence, Strengthsfinder.
This is a fascinating concept. Our culture highly values a liberal arts education. We expose students to a lot of different fields with the goal in mind of making someone "well-rounded" with knowledge. Rath is not necessarily saying to get rid of that but he would argue that we should spend more time honing in on the specific gifts and talents that individuals have. Once we find those talents, that individual (rather then learning a bunch of other general information) should focus on refining and shaping those particular gifts.
Personally, I like the spirit of what he is saying but I'm not sure I'm fully onboard. Even if I have gifts in certain areas, I actually may be able to refine and strength those gifts by learning about other fields or disciplines.
With that being said, I would still rank this as one of the more compelling personality books that comes with an internal test that I have read.
Admittedly though, "Strengthsfinder" has an interesting concept. The author, Tom Rath, spends the beginning of the book ripping the movie "Rudy" (of all things). His problem with the film is obviously not an artistic critique but the thematic message. Rath argues persuasively that Rudy given his size and talents should not have been a football player. The whole climax leading up to the sack at the end was built on someone performing a task that they were not good at. While Rudy's strength was not football, his talents lay elsewhere and he was missing out on an opportunity to connect with what he would be truly great at doing and further developing those skills. Hence, Strengthsfinder.
This is a fascinating concept. Our culture highly values a liberal arts education. We expose students to a lot of different fields with the goal in mind of making someone "well-rounded" with knowledge. Rath is not necessarily saying to get rid of that but he would argue that we should spend more time honing in on the specific gifts and talents that individuals have. Once we find those talents, that individual (rather then learning a bunch of other general information) should focus on refining and shaping those particular gifts.
Personally, I like the spirit of what he is saying but I'm not sure I'm fully onboard. Even if I have gifts in certain areas, I actually may be able to refine and strength those gifts by learning about other fields or disciplines.
With that being said, I would still rank this as one of the more compelling personality books that comes with an internal test that I have read.
After reading the intro, taking the quiz, and then getting my results I feel like giving my boss my zodiac sign will be about as useful.