Women2Women - Spring 2018 - 20

Growth2Go

StrengthsFinder - The New Myers-Briggs?
By Alexis Williams - Intern, GRCA

he Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment
was published for practical applications in
1975. Its creators, Isabel Myers and Katharine
Cook Briggs, constructed it using the studies of psychoanalyst C.G. Jung in order to
make his findings more useful in the lives of
ordinary people. The test covers the topics of
extraversion/introversion, sensing/intuition,
thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving.
Although millions take this test every year,
there is a new contender for personality
indicator assessments: Clifton StrengthsFinder.
Developed for use online in 2007, the
Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment is
used to identify the most common "themes"
presented in a person's personality. The test
measures 34 general areas that are referred to
as "themes" and they include communication,
adaptability, discipline, intellect, and more.
There are four overarching categories of the
themes and they are strategic thinking, executing, influencing, and relationship building.
Many feel that the StrengthsFinder 2.0
assessment is the "new and improved" version
of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It allows
people to find more in-depth information
and higher levels of concentration with the
larger number of themes. Myers-Briggs only
concentrates in four areas with two sub-topics
in each, whereas StrengthsFinder concentrates
in four areas with eight or nine subtopics each.
Both assessments list a variety of benefits
from using their services, including managers
being able to interact more efficiently with
their employees and teachers being able to alter
their styles to fit the needs of their students,
and overall creating a more positive workplace
culture. On the surface, these assessments
seem to have very similar outcomes, but
StrengthsFinder provides more feedback.
Myers-Briggs has fourteen possibilities of
personality types. StrengthsFinder's large
number of themes means the odds of someone
having the same order of the "top five" themes
as someone else is 1 in 33 million.

20 Women2Women Spring 2018

StrengthsFinder Leadership Domains

Myers-Briggs has fourteen possibilities of personality
types. StrengthsFinder's large number of themes means
the odds of someone having the same order of the "top
five" themes as someone else is 1 in 33 million.
Of the two indicators, StrengthsFinder is
more technologically friendly. StrengthsFinder
has an app that can be downloaded to a phone
or tablet for easy access to the assessment and
results. Myers-Briggs does not offer an app.
Additionally, since Myers-Briggs is an older
assessment, there are many "fake" assessments
that can be found online that aren't as accurate
as the original.
Though they both have their advantages,
StrengthsFinder has set itself up to replace its
predecessor, Myers-Briggs. It is adaptive to
a highly-technological environment through
the app while still allowing users to access it
online if they desire. StrengthsFinder has the
option to access the lower-detailed results (top
five traits) or the full results (34 strengths in
order) depending on your needs. Ultimately,
only time will tell which test will reign supreme
in the coming years.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Women2Women - Spring 2018