Strengths, Surveys and Scrupulousness
As many people do, I make a point of using what free time I have at the end of the year to reflect on what I’m doing with my life and, more importantly, how I’m doing. Some people set resolutions, some people write lists, some people revise vision boards, some people barrel ahead into the new year blindly, and most people actually do some amalgamation of all those things. I set an intention for the year ahead.
An intention, for me, is a singular word I use as a mantra to inject that flavor and unique brand of motivation into everything I do. In 2016, that intention was “invigoration”. 2017: “leadership”. This past year, it was “design”. In an effort to make a more informed decision about what’s important to me this year, I’ve taken a battery of personality surveys.
The marketplace of personality and strengths surveys is eclectic, to say the least. That’s why I’m writing this article: to offer my perspective on the efficacy and relevance of these surveys. I learned more about myself than I’ll ever need to know so you don’t have to!
The Surveys
A couple of notes on methodology and terminology before diving in…
Freemium: Many of these surveys are free to take and will offer a basic report, with an option to purchase more detailed reports. I’ve appropriated “Freemium” for the sake of this post
Likert Scale: You’ve definitely seen this before. Likert Scale is a survey question format that asks to rank your response on a spectrum, typically on a 1-5 or 1-7 scale with 3 being neutral. It is by far the most commonly used format for these tests, so I’ll simply be referring to the Likert Scale below
(Mostly) Free Surveys: My passion for surveys only extends so far, and I generally drew the line at having to pay to take the assessment, so a multitude of tests didn’t make the cut. Notable exceptions are StrengthsFinder and BP10, which I already purchased before this post occurred to me
Where’s Meyers Briggs?: The efficacy of Meyers Briggs has been explored to death, and it is largely considered to be bogus, so I’ve opted to exclude it here. 16 Personalities is the closest thing here (and uses the same basic profiles) if you’re hankering for the good ol’ standard
CliftonStrengths® 34
“Learn Who You Are, Who You’re Not and How You Best Contribute to Teams“
Cost: $50 (there is a $20 version for analysis of top five of thirty-four strengths)
What the Test is Like: Likert - Presents 2 statements and asks you to select which one best describes you
Time Commitment: 30-45 minutes
Results: Detailed downloadable reports; online portal directing to other available resources; short videos describing real-world examples of each strength
Builder Profile 10
“How you are wired will influence not only what you build, but also how you build it.“
Cost: $20
What the Test is Like: Likert - Similar to CliftonStrengths 34 with more entrepreneurially-focused prompts
Time Commitment: 20-30 minutes
Results: Online portal with results overview, a downloadable .pdf of the results and other available resources
Enneagram
“The enneagram is a profound and powerful guide to understanding your personality and inner workings.“
Cost: There are free and paid versions out there. I took the free version linked above
What the Test is Like: A series of binary personality questions
Time Commitment: 5-10 minutes
Results: Webpage with concise information about your top 3 Enneagram types
16 Personalities
“It’s so incredible to finally be understood.“
Cost: Freemium - Assessment & online profile are free; learning modules for your type run $30-$80
What the Test is Like: Likert - errs towards social interactions and emotional intelligence
Time Commitment: 10-15 minutes
Results: Full online profile for your Personality Type, including, without limitation, information on Strengths & Weaknesses, Romantic Relationships, Career Paths and Workplace Habits
VIA Character Strengths Assessment
“Learn Your Character Strengths. Live Your Potential.“
Cost: Freemium model - Detailed reports cost $20-$40
What the Test is Like: Likert - Has more of an emotional- / belief-tinge to it than most, but feels standard overall
Time Commitment: 20-30 minutes, and that includes creating a profile before taking the test
Results: Downloadable .pdf file ranking your strengths, and a dashboard with the same info + options to buy deeper reports
Core Values Index (“CVI”)
“The [CVI] is the most powerful human-nature assessment ever developed.”
Cost: Freemium model - Detailed report is $50
What the Test is Like: I rather enjoyed taking this one. The CVI presents you with groups of four words and asks you to select the two “which most relate to you -- the words that have the greatest value to you“. Repeat x 36
Time Commitment: 10-15 minutes
Results: A landing page with a wordy description of your profile. The explanation here is more dense and harder to follow than the rest
The Results
Candor alert! In order to illustrate the impact and usefulness of the results for each test, I’m going to share my actual results.
CliftonStrengths® 34 (“34”)
General Description: 34 breaks the results down into three primary modes of insight: 1) all of your strengths ranked from 1-34; 2) personalized, actionable insights for your top ten strengths; and 3) domains of strength based on those 34 rankings.
My Results: My top ten (I’ll spare the full 34) strengths are, in order from strongest to weakest:
Analytical
Restorative
Responsibility
Learner
Intellection
Input
Individualization
Relator
Connectedness
Deliberative
Based on those, my Strategic Thinking and Executing domains are far stronger than my Relationship Building and Influencing domains.
Applicability: The basic StrengthsFinder philosophy is identifying your greatest strengths and maximizing potential based on those, rather than spending time & energy overcoming weaknesses. The top 5 strengths are considered the most important, with the top 10 being worthy of extra attention and the rest being worth acknowledging and navigating (as opposed to actively cultivating).
The personalized insights are what I found most helpful here. Each strength has a full generic profile, complete with ways to maximize that strength’s potential and blind spots people with that strength tend to experience. The insights, framed as “Why your [Strength] is unique” and “Why you succeed using [Strength]” were surprisingly applicable in very real ways. I chalk this up as a prime example of the power of big data: 34, being one of the more popular exams out there, has an enormous pool of data to work with, and they claim to be able to draw these insights by analyzing trends in that growing pool as a competitive advantage.
Recommendation: Go for it. I found 34 to be really interesting, but the top 5 assessment is the more popular, affordable choice. Considering the top 5 are the crux of this assessment, that’s perfectly serviceable.
Builder Profile 10 (“BP10”™)
General Description: BP10 ranks your 10 “builder talents”, sharing a few advantages people with high levels of that talent tend to enjoy. It also assigns a type of “alpha builder” based on those results.
My Results: My ten builder talents are, in order from strongest to weakest:
Independence
Delegator
Disruptor
Risk
Profitability
Knowledge
Confidence
Relationship
Determination
Selling
And I am an “Expert” alpha builder, dedicating myself to ongoing improvement with a strong work ethic
Applicability: I’ll get the hot take out of the way: the alpha builders type names are dumb. The explanations are kind of cute, but “Expert” is the least lame, with “Conductor” being too vague and “Rainmaker” being absolutely cringeworthy. They’re also not terribly helpful.
The talents, on the other hand, are pretty useful. There isn’t much deep insight here, as each talent is given a static list of advantages and action items, but bear in mind this assessment is designed for entrepreneurs. It is perhaps more critical for an entrepreneur to be keenly aware of their blindspots than any other kind of professional. As a testament to my self-awareness and BP10’s accuracy, I was not at all shocked to learn that I’m dismal at “Selling”. In true StrengthsFinder fashion, that is not cause for panic, but rather validation that I’m simply not a natural salesman and that I need to be deliberate about partnering with people who are in order to build anything of value.
Recommendation: I don’t know that I would recommend this, being a paid product. 34 is different because of how dynamic the results are, but this doesn’t have enough ROI to make it worthwhile. Handy information for sure, and that $20 was by no means a waste of money, but after reading the report, I merely felt like I’d satisfied a curiosity.
Enneagram
General Description: Prescribes three personality types with three static insights about that type for each: 1) “How to Get Along with Me”; 2) “What I Like About Being a [type]”; and 3) “What’s Hard About Being a [type]”.
My Results: My three prominent types are “The Loyalist”, “The Investigator” and “The Reformer”. Breaking down the Loyalist type, they’re described as “responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes“. You can get along with me by “[Being] direct and clear”, what I like about being a Loyalist is “Being committed and faithful to family and friends” and what’s hard about being a Loyalist is “The constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind”.
Applicability: This assessment weighs how other people can best interact with your type just as heavily as how your type interacts with the rest of the world. Most of the assessments here are usable in that way, but none as explicitly as the Enneagram. Overall, this was a fun personality test but not terribly actionable.
Recommendation: It’s free, fast and fun. I’m tempted to shell out for the paid exam by the Enneagram Institute’s RHETI Test which may swing me over to true believer status, but it’s a fun exercise in self-reflection regardless.
16 Personalities
General Description: This is basically Meyers Briggs with a unique methodology. Upon completion, you’ll be assigned one of sixteen personality types, each of which correspond to a Meyers Briggs profile. For a free assessment, the amount of information it gives you is quite impressive. And the best part: you’ll learn of 4 celebrities who share your personality type!
My Results: I am a Defender (ISFJ, -A/-T). Analytical, loyal, altruistic, and other personality traits that are starting to emerge as a pattern. Celebrities: Halle Berry, Queen Elizabeth II, Beyoncé, Vin Diesel.
Applicability: As with all the other free tools here, there are no truly personalized insights; just a bunch of archetypical information for whichever personality type to which your responses led you. However, the depth of information here is comparable to the 34 report, which is astounding for a free tool. If you can layer your discretion about what makes you unique while reading through the profile of your type, this can be a valuable assessment.
Recommendation: Just do it. It’s free, it doesn’t take much time, and the literature is quirky and well-written. It’s a great starting point for understanding what makes you tick.
VIA Character Strengths Assessment
General Description: This is a bit of an oddball. The report delivered upon completion is fairly sparse: your 24 “personality strengths” are ranked, each with a short description of what exemplifies that type. At first, I was disappointed with this deliverable, but I learned that you can piece together more useful information about those personality strengths by poking around on the VIA website. Each strength has its own page with more detailed information, and there are instructional pages that better describe the utility of the rankings.
My Results: My top ten personality strengths are, in order from strongest to weakest:
Prudence
Judgment
Perspective
Humility
Creativity
Forgiveness
Leadership
Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence
Fairness
Kindness
Applicability: The only word I can think of to describe “personality strengths” is: floofy. Approaching this assessment from a desire to perform better and grow as a professional, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at strengths like “Zest” and learning that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Dear Prudence are strongly associated with Prudence. The packaging also leaves something to be desired (stopping short of purchasing a detailed report).
Recommendation: Would not recommend. The amount of time it’s taken me to piece together what purpose this actually serves is emblematic of how scattered it is conceptually.
Core Values Index
General Description: Strong warning: results are shared in the “Giant Wall of Text” format. Somewhere in that wall of text, you may learn what your core value energy make-up is. Or you may read and reread a lot of words and still be trying to piece together what the hell CVI is trying to tell you, like I did.
My Results: I am an Innovator-Banker, apparently. Or is it Innovator/Banker? Or an Innovative with unique secondary Banker core energy? Regardless, this means I’m all about Wisdom and Knowledge.
Applicability: The results are poorly written and hard to follow. They’re rife with typos and questionable grammar choices and make use of far too many terms of art. I acknowledge the double standard in holding that against CVI when I praised things like “Defender” and “Loyalist” in previous sections, but the difference is that those profiles were at least well-organized. This is an incomprehensible pile of snippets of disjointed wisdom. And I should know: I’m an Innovator-Banker, after all.
Recommendation: Skip.
The Upshot
If CVI has taught me anything, it’s that lengthy diatribes are not fun to read. So here’s my parting advice in list form (in no particular order):
No one test is going to tell you who you are or how to act. Well, they will, but you have to understand you’re far more dynamic than any assessment
Approach these assessments with critical curiosity, not with an expectation of being told what makes you who you are
Take a variety, and try to identify patterns that emerge. If you can see a pattern throughout completely disparate methodologies, there’s likely something significant there
Be wary that many paid assessments are gateways to subscribing to a whole philosophy on productivity training. If something resonates with you, by all means feel free to explore it, but remember there is no universally endorsed methodology
Take what applies, leave what doesn’t. Many of these are generalized results, so don’t spend too much effort trying to convince yourself that you need to take corrective action just because the results don’t match with your experience
Be willing to accept gaps in your strengths (have fun balancing this with my previous point…)
Be open to sharing what you learn with colleagues. These assessments can also serve as a roadmap for how best to work with people like yourself
Do something with all of this new information. I started off trying to set a more informed intention for 2019 and wound up deeply evaluating my professional productivity (and writing this article). There’s no better way to validate the results than by putting them into action