Strengths Finder 2.0 - What I Learned

I start my Master's degree in Technology Management program at George Mason University this Saturday, and before class we were all required to take the Strengths Finder assessment.

If you haven't seen it on the shelves of your local bookstore, here's the synopsis:

We have a better chance at success by capitalizing on our strengths rather than trying to make up for our deficiencies.

In other words, no matter how much I practice, I will likely never be as good a cyclist as Lance Armstrong. I'm just not built for it. I can work hard my whole life but only achieve a certain level when there isn't much there to start.

It's not rocket science, but it does put a positive spin on the typical character/personality assessment/self-help stuff out there.

I learned my 5 core strengths are:

Strategic
Create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Futuristic
Inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.

Input
Have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Ideation
Fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Activator
Can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Feels pretty spot on, and I did get a nice validating warm and fuzzy feeling from reading the descriptions.

It'll be interesting to see the results of my classmates. My feeling is that this information will be useful for group work and team projects.