Reviews

Entwickle deine Stärken mit dem StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath

gustavovalencia's review against another edition

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3.0

Good food for thought, sure.

Worth the price? Thank god I didn't pay anything.
This is an elaborated sales pitch to make you spend more money in their Online Test Tool.

Who should pay for these tests? Companies trying to create better teams. Not individuals

megreads379's review against another edition

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fast-paced

4.25

lalatut's review against another edition

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4.0

Interesting self-study on individual strengths. The book is a bit redundant to the website but gives more backstory and developmental history. The main idea is that culturally, Americans spend a lot of time and energy trying to improve areas of weakness - if you're bad at math you likely to spend longer working on it than other subjects and/or pay for tutoring, etc. If you're not empathetic, your job might require empathy training, etc. It says too few people actually spend enough time doing things they are naturally good at. This test is supposed to help individuals, families, organizations, companies change that. The test is meant to discover your top 5 out of 34 (I think) possible talents. It also comes with action items and application ideas once you know what they are. Also, even if you and another person share a #1 talent, it may be applied very differently based on what your other top 5 talents are - so it accounts for individuality. I was not 100% sold on the accuracy of my 3rd talent in my test results, but I'm still mulling over all the info. Mostly, it was right on - my favorite action items were: pursue further education in philosophy, literature, or psychology, find avenues for listening & counseling others, and start book clubs or similar discussion-facilitating shared interest groups. =)

the_bookcase's review against another edition

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4.0

I would recommend also reading "Now Discover Your Strengths" for more detail and background.

richardwiggins's review against another edition

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3.0

The wildly enthusiastic introduction to CliftonStrengths (TM) is absolutely hilarious - definitely developed by Americans. This book is essentially corporate star signs, but often ones which give you a good steer and have genuine practical application. There was a particular combination of trait descriptions that made me realise something gently profound about myself. And then there’s a lot of nonsense also.

gaiamolinaro's review against another edition

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fast-paced

2.25

kil3yp's review against another edition

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1.0

This was fairly disappointing - especially since I did indeed shell out the $15 to take their quiz and find my five strengths.

While the strengths were unsurprising (I likely could have picked them out of the list myself), what was most disappointing was the lack of direction for how to best use these strengths, and their absolute refusal to consider weak points (since this is after all, about finding and focusing on your strengths). I got some nice two line blurbs from other "people" (I would bet my $15 that they are mostly fictional) about how they use the particular strength, and told what the best partner type would be to that strength.

But that's it. I paid $15 to get a description of myself I already sort of knew, and told to find other people (who have also shelled out $15) who are a particular type to shore up my weak points and balance my particular set. Except, I did this on my own not as part of an organization.

I could understand how this would work in organizations with large teams. I can even understand how it may be beneficial for those who are less confident about their strength areas. But otherwise, this was a giant waste of $15 and checking out a book from the Library. I'm not even sure it was worth the time it took me to take the quiz and read the sections. Oh, by the way, the print outs you get after the quiz are essentially re-writes of the book sections. So save yourself one or the other.

My suggestion for Strengths Finder 3.0? Cut back on your ridiculously long list of strengths, give longer sections with more detail about each one, and suggestions on areas for improvement and focus. Stop telling me to rely on other people who have ostensibly taken your same damn quiz. Give me an idea of industries and roles that are well suited to that particular strength set. Talk about how strengths can work well or against one another. You know. Those things you promised, but didn't deliver on in Strengths Finder 2.0.

gingamage's review against another edition

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5.0

As crazy as it sounds, this book and its philosophy changed my life...(more to come)

ohlhauc's review against another edition

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informative fast-paced

catbooklover's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0