StrengthsFinder 2.0 Hardcover – Bargain Price, 1 Feb. 2007

The book was well written and very informative. It was bought as a gift and was really well received.

Ok, let's be clear. What you're really buying access to is the fantastic online psychometric test. I bought the kindle version of this as it's slightly cheaper. The book itself is fairly short: it contains an intro (about a fifth of the book) which explains the Gallup point of view. This is basically that if we all understood and focussed on our strengths rather than our weaknesses, we would be happier and far, far more productive (after decades of work on this, they have the research to back this up). It's articulated really well, and is really convincing.The rest of the book is a summary of each of the different strengths, including how people with that strength might want to make the most of that strength, and how to work with people like that. But the truth is you don't need to read that for yourself, because when you take the test (relatively short) you get a personalised report on each of your strengths (ok, it's not totally personalised, but it adapted for exactly *how much* you have each strength, and the mixtures you have). And here's where the transformative bit comes in.This personalised report really affected me. When I read some of it, I welled up. I hadn't felt that *got* for ages. And it opened up all sorts of things: I understood why I had left a particular job, which had mostly been a great job, I understood why I was so attracted to the career path I am developing into. And I just know that I will be able to use this going forward.I work as a coach now, and I often recommend this to clients. Mostly they don't do it, because it costs £10 or so, and you can get free psychometric tests about strengths online. But the ones who take it find it transformative, too. It's WAY better than the free ones, and for me the £10 is one of the best £10s I've ever spent. Go on, get it!

I love these insights based on research and I like the book a lot.Strengths Finder 2.0 is a book that unpacks firstly the philosophy behind Strengths Based approaches to work and life, but then helps you to identify and explain your own strengths. In this way, the hope is that you can live and work from your strengths and understand how to better develop them.You don't read the book and pick what you think your strengths are. Each book gives you a one time code to take the Strengths Finder assessment. A set of questions that you answer on line and the assessment tool will then identify your top five strengths.You can then use the remainder of the book to study the strength and how you might develop each one.The book is fairly well written, although I found the explanations lacking at times and sometimes I found the suggestions to be half baked. Though there is a LOT to work on all the same.I think that the reader needs to realise that the book is just the doorway into a much larger world. The assessment tool and the reports it generates is where the deeper insights will come. Once you have registered and answered the questions you are e-mailed report that is tailored to you.There is also a network of trainers who can come and work with teams to help them identify their strengths and find new ways to work together based upon the individual strengths of team members. I think that Strengths Finder 2.0 will be a revelation for many people and I have benefited from it personally. It has really helped me in my personal development and helped me to understanding what makes me tick. Not only that, but that I can celebrate my strengths and not apologise for them - rather, it is important to find places to express them fully.I also believe that the encouragement to work to your strengths rather than try and fix your weaknesses is a game changer!Strengths Finder 2.0 is an important book that could change the world.

The website for this book is terrible. It's simply horrible trying to register and then I experienced lots of issues during taking the test and submitting the test. At the end, you're given five words which describe your strengths, with a number of suggestions to help you maximise those strengths. So for instance, one of my strengths is "Input" and the task was "Devise a system to store and easily locate information. This can be as simple as a file for all the articles you have clipped or as sophisticated as a computer database." Also, if you purchase the Kindle book (which is what I did) there is a significant delay before you get your code. And really, the code is all that matters. The book without the code is like finding some cryptic text and wondering how to translate it.I've found that the strengths are insightful to some degree. The test takes about 30 minutes and is made up of 177 questions, with 20 seconds to answer each question).Given the price, it's hard to be too harsh on this. I can actually see myself buying it as a gift for a couple of friends to top up birthday presents - but getting the physical version. The output is interesting and the quality is superior to free online profiling tests.