Thursday, November 19

strengthsfinder is a bust

The more I read my StrengthsFinder book, the more I realize that a program such as StrengthsFinder has an impossible goal. Each of the billions of people on this earth is completely different, and it doesn't matter how many buckets you try to put them into because you can't. Put people into buckets that is. This realization is almost painful for me because I need to know. What am I? Who am I? Why am I that way? I want the pieces in place to I can say things like...Well of course I made that decision because my Arranger told my Empathy that I needed to Activate my Intellect. Got that? Me either.

But every time I take a test such as StrengthsFinder or Myers-Briggs, I have two experiences. One...I feel like I know where the questions are leading. It's easier to answer based on what I think it right than to really know what is strongly ME. And two... I am never sure I agree with the results.

Myers-Briggs puts you into big buckets. I'm sure their goal is to catch as many people accurately in those buckets as they can. INFJ - Introvert, Intuition, Feeling, Judging. Yeah okay I'd agree that that's me, but how do I really USE that information.

StrengthsFinder tries to give you information that you can use. They have many more smaller buckets, but because of this I wonder if the nuances between the types are sometimes lost. Input, Arranger, Empathy, Learner, Intellection. Yes, I suppose these describe me, but Input, Learner, and Intellection are so similar. Arranger is close to Strategic. Achiever and Maximizer are also on the same path. So many of the types have the same goal but different motivations. And I find it hard to believe that a series of questions can truly detect those nuances. One time I take the test I get Arranger. Another time I get Strategic. But truly, WHY did that change?

And when are they going to tell my why I always need to know WHY? No one's ever explained that to me, but I'll be darned if it isn't one of my most driving characteristics.

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