This is part four in a six-part series on my StrengthsFinder 2.0 results. In part one, I introduced the whole strengths and talents idea from Tom Rath’s book. He asserts that we develop strengths by investing study and practice into areas where we are already naturally talented. The book and online assessment help you identify your talents and some actions you can take to build on top of those talents.
The StrengthsFinder online assessment reports my Top 5 Talent Themes as:
I didn’t have to read the Learner full description to get where this talent theme was going. Some of it was predictable. Here’s an excerpt.
You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are 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 you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is the process that entices you.
The process, the process, the process. I don’t necessarily buy that. I’ve heard this before, about other people, how they love the process of learning but they don’t care too much what they learn. I’m not really like that. I love to learn, but I love to learn something I love. You know? I may follow a process, but it’s the subject, not the process, that I love.
But if I take a second, closer look, then I admit that I do get energized by that progress curve, where learning the basics and gaining skills are swift. It’s a mystery that’s being revealed. That’s something I understood a long time ago. What I have come to recognize recently is that one should learn something beyond one’s current fields or domains. That is, rather than simply learn a new song on guitar, which I already play, I would benefit from learning a new instrument altogether.
This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”
That’s definitely true for me. I strive to learn things but don’t care if I ever master them. I’m almost a dilettante, except I’m not even that serious. For me, out of all my Top 5 talent themes, the last one – Connectedness – is the most intriguing to me, and I see it in not only the other four themes, but also in lots of other areas of my life. So when I learn things, it’s mostly because there’s a connection to something else important to me, or I am building a new connection. That’s what I focus on – the connections – more so than the knowledge or the learning process.
When podcasting was first starting to take off, I decided I wanted to learn what it would take to make a podcast - and to make a fairly good one, for that matter. I have a lot of technical know-how when it comes to the Internet, the web, computers, software, etc. And I have varied interests, and I have a need to create. So I decided I’d launch a podcast. I came up with the name, the topics, the logo, registered the domain, set up equipment, recorded and edited my show, followed all the technical specifications, got my feed established and listed in the iTunes podcast directory as well as a bunch of others, and it was off and running. I left no detail out.
No, it wasn’t the most efficient way to get going - doing all the planning and prep up front before even recording anything. In fact, most big-name, experienced podcasters recommend that you don’t start that way - that you should just record, get a free site, and publish. But because I was into it to learn about it, I did as much as I could so that when the first episode came out I had all aspects firing along with it. I even set up a listener forum on the web site. But ultimately, once the learning and launching was over, producing the show became a time-consuming chore. It never found an audience. I put out 15 episodes in over a year, but just recently called the whole thing off. I was completely at peace with my decision, too, because it never was meant to take over the world.
As usual, I found the personalized description of how the Learner theme applies to me to be more accurate and useful than the full description. I found this part illuminating, inspiring, and thought-provoking.
Driven by your talents, you may identify the specific traits or experiences that distinguish one person from the next. When you familiarize yourself with someone, you might be able to predict how the person will react in different situations.
Well now, that’s an odd thing to say. I wasn’t expecting this and I’m still not sure what to make of it. I can’t say I either agree or disagree, or that I’ve noticed any signs of this behavior. It definitely got me wondering.
Because of your strengths, you may see some value in continuous education. Perhaps this reflects your interest in particular topics. Sometimes you are fascinated with the process of acquiring knowledge or skills. Chances are good that you can be scholarly if you have a desirable goal to reach. Perhaps you are willing to examine certain topics for extended periods of time.
Aha! Now I get what they mean by “the process” - I can be scholarly when learning. That is, I go about it methodically, etc. Like a scholar. Okay, yes, I do enjoy that. And I’d almost rather not look at the “willing to examine certain topics for extended periods of time” statement. That seems to have serious crossover with the Analytical talent theme. It’s something that others can observe and decide that I get too hung up on analysis, that I ‘over-analyze’. There may have been times in the past where that has been true, but today I am taking a two-fold approach. First, I try not to let analysis or “examination”/learning go on too long without some sort of application - something that will help get or give some tangible, externally visible value. Second, I have embraced the fact that among my top talent themes are thinking, analyzing, and learning, so I am actually trying to do more of all of that. To people who might look negatively on my thinking/analyzing, I say, “deal with it”. For my part, I try to be prompt, efficient, and to produce something from all that learning, etc. I think it’s a good balance.
To some degree, thoughts come alive for you when questions are posed and answers are proposed. You might have a delightful time thinking out loud and listening to intelligent people express themselves.
Yes, that’s very true. I do think out loud in certain situations - I admit it and make it explicit that I’m thinking out loud. I don’t mind. And I’ve noticed that all of my best and most rewarding friendships have been with the most intelligent people.
You might document or store in your mind bits and pieces of information. Perhaps you want to refer to these insights or facts when an opportunity presents itself.
This is another of those “but doesn’t everybody do this?” moments. But stop for a moment and think of someone in your circles who “refers to stored insights or facts when an opportunity presents itself”. Yeah. That guy. Making small talk at a cocktail party with the Trivial Pursuit enthusiast doesn’t sound like much fun. Here’s the thing - I see myself in those two statements from the personal description, however I try to make good use of this trait in my professional career, where it might be much more advantageous than in chit-chat with friends.
In fact, I see this whole “storing and opportunistic referring” behavior tied into the contexts of my other Top 5 talent themes. For example, it’s a good thing when I’m being analytical. I see it especially tightly linked to my Connectedness theme. It really could fit seamlessly into that theme’s descriptions, it seems to me. I definitely like to store and retrieve bits and pieces of information when I’m exploring connections.
If you’ve taken the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment and want to share your results or discuss anything I’ve written here, leave a comment or contact me via email. If you’ve just got questions about any of this, feel free to contact me, too—I love to hear from readers and I love to share thoughts about this topic.
photo credits:
“books in a stack (a stack of books)” by austinevan
“writing exams” by ccarlstead
Finally, the full description actually uses language that was very relevant to where I was professionally at the time I first took the test and got my results. You peel the layers back until, gradually, the root cause or causes are re
What I read in these paragraphs struck me as a kind of defense of my natural analytical streak. As I mentioned, I’ve been accused of being analytical, maybe too analytical. I’ve had to be mindful most of my professional career not to get stuck in ‘analysis paralysis’. I’m not naturally action-biased, but never leaving the analysis of something is ultimately frustrating because nothing ever happens without action, and thinking about something never does anybody any good if no actions are ever taken after the thinking gets done.
