Hinahanap ng mga Lakas ko? (Finding my Strengths?)
“I am fully alive - full of joy and delight”
vs.
“I am aware of all the factors affecting my situation”.How do you choose between the two? I wanna choose BOTH! Neutral doesn’t really answer it!
These are just some of the reasons why I’ve waited and prolonged and avoided and kicked and screamed (in my head) to take this (silly) personality evaluation test for the office:
- It is NOT FREE.
- You can only take the test ONCE.
- Its been a hideous bandwagon thing for way too long. Can’t stand the hype.
- I was never invited to any of the initial talks on it. Us minion back-liners never are. (Maybe that’s why I’ve been sour-graping for so long?)
- You get boxed by what your themes are. Like being boxed according to the color of your skin or your height or weight or by how fast or loud you can talk.
- It’s a strange and impersonal way to try to get to know someone. Why not share a few meals and talk about life and family instead?
- The questions are ambiguous.
- Its spooky. Almost like modern-day scientific fortune telling or horoscope reading. (I’m a Scorpio by the way)
- I’m wondering what result I’d have if I answered “neutral” to ALL. (Switzerland?)
- The themes / personalities / strengths are somewhat no-duh “revelations”… didn’t reveal anything I didn’t already know.
- It was written in ASPX (.NET) — yuck!
- The shear fact it is called “Strengths Finder 2.0”. I already hated the phrase “Web 2.0” (whatever that is — nobody knows STILL). The whole branding just didn’t work for me.
- It turned out the test-code I had from my book was for Strengths Finder 1.0 (ugh)
- So was 2.0 any better?
- What’s in store for 3.0?
- I could go on, but I think I’m already offending a lot of people right now so I’ll STOP. Really, don’t mean to offend. This is my blog so I can say whatever I want.
So…..
To satisfy the persistent year-round nagging of my boss and let him sleep in peace before the year ends, laying down my pride and in humility and OBEDIENCE here are my top-five themes according to the half-hour that I just spent agonizing over the test.
My top 5 themes:
1. Adaptability
2. Maximizer
3. Responsibility
4. Intellection
5. Achiever
I duno how that’s gona help me be more productive in the team I work in.
Before I took the test, these were my initial guesses:
1. Achiever
2. Adaptability
3. Responsibility
4. Self-Assurance
5. Significance
So yea, 3 out of 5. I rated an 8 out of 10 for both “Intellection” and “Maximizer” with a 10 out of 10 for “Self-Assurance” and “Significance” winning it in my self-assessment.
Below is my entire personal score when I assessed myself on a scale of 1 to 10 from the whole list of themes. I still think its more accurate than having taken the test itself.
Achiever : 10
Activator : 3
Adaptability : 10
Analytical : 9
Arranger : 8
Belief : 6
Command : 7
Communication : 7
Competition : 8
Connectedness : 6
Consistency : 7
Context : 7
Deliberative : 9
Developer : 7
Discipline : 4
Empathy : 7
Focus : 7
Futuristic : 7
Harmony : 7
Ideation : 7
Inclusiveness : 6
Individualization : 6
Input: 7
Intellection: 8
Learner: 9
Maximizer: 8
Positivity: 4
Relator: 6
Responsibility: 10
Restorative: 8
Self-Assurance : 10
Significance: 10
Strategic: 8
Woo: 6
I think when 3.0 comes out the term personal “themes” is gona be called “wallpapers” or “wireframes” instead. haha
So how did I get started with the whole self-testing thing?
1. Well, I read the book.
2. Next, I read this: http://unsheeple.com/2008/11/free-strengths-finder-testkind-of-self-reporting/ (very good read that summarizes each theme, just scroll down)
3. Then I downloaded the self-test PDF here: http://www.e-geniuses.com/strengths-finder-self-reporting-test.pdf
4. Took the self-test by rating myself on a scale of 1 to 10 per theme.
I highly recommend doing it this way over answering ambiguous questions in the online test. The key I guess is with being honest with yourself.
Some would say don’t over-analyze it. They’d say you don’t even have to read the book. Just take the test and have fun.
Ok. But I didn’t do it that way. I guess it just shows the “Maximizer” and “Intellection” themes I supposedly excel in? Is that what it revealed? I think that’s the last time I’m going to use a StrengthsFinder theme to describe myself or anybody.
One more peeve was when people would say “oh, that guy — He’s an Activator. Or that person, she’s got Woo”. (what?)
So that’s it. It was quite a bandwagon thing to blog about one’s StrengthsFinder themes the other year. Now that the bandwagon is done, I’ve finally jumped on it and the TRAIN is empty! (yea!) Quick ride and I’m outta here!
Hope you’re happy office-folks! 2011 is gona be great!
