CliftonStrengths

CliftonStrengths (also known as StrengthsFinder) is an assessment developed by Don Clifton while he was chairman of Gallup, Inc. The company launched the test in 2001. Test takers are presented with paired statements and select the option they identify with best, then receive a report outlining the five strength areas they scored highest in, along with information on how to apply those strengths.^[1]

Clifton and his team developed the test using Gallup's historical polling data, interviews with leaders and work teams, and consultations. They identified four primary strength domains: executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking. Within those domains, they identified 34 strength areas:^[2]

Strategic Thinking: Analytical, Context, Futuristic, Ideation, Input, Intellection, Learner, Strategic;
Relationship Building: Adaptability, Connectedness, Developer, Empathy, Harmony, Includer, Individualization, Positivity, Relator;
Influencing: Activator, Command, Communication, Competition, Maximizer, Self-assurance, Significance, Woo;
Executing: Achiever, Arranger, Belief, Consistency, Deliberative, Discipline, Focus, Responsibility, Restorative.^[2]

Between 2001 and 2012, approximately 600,000 people took the test annually. By 2015, 1.6 million people were taking it each year. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015 that 467 companies on the Fortune 500 list were using CliftonStrengths.^[3] As of 2022, more than 26 million people had taken the test.^[4]

Gallup released StrengthsFinder 2.0 in 2007. The book became one of Amazon's top-ten best selling books and remained on that list through 2016.^[5]

Evidence

The CliftonStrengths assessment has not been peer-reviewed for publication in any scientific journal, nor is there any other publicly available testing of claims made about assessment's validity or utility.

References

^ Adams, Susan (August 28, 2009). "The Test That Measures A Leader's Strengths". Forbes. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Sutton, Jeremy (September 23, 2021). "Understanding the CliftonStrengths™ Assessment: A Guide". Positive Psychology. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
^ Feintzeig, Rachel (February 10, 2015). "Everything Is Awesome! Why You Can't Tell Employees They're Doing a Bad Job". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
^ Monte, Ava (February 27, 2022). "CliftonStrengths showcased in Skutt". Creightonian. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
^ Kopf, Dan (December 21, 2016). "Only one book has made the Amazon Top 10 every year for the past decade". Quartz. Retrieved August 8, 2023.

Evidence

References

Further reading