Strengths: #5: Analytical

The book "Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton has been popular over the last couple of years. Grounded in over 2 million interviews done by the Gallup organization over the last 30 years, the price tag of $30 includes a multiple-choice survey that determines your top 5 strengths from among 34 "themes." The book also discusses the general theory of focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses (about 40 pages of this), followed by detailed descriptions of the 34 themes to help flush out your own nature. It also discusses how that theory applies to some famous people such as Warren Buffett.

Theories are mostly as good as the paper they're written on -- only we can truly know ourselves -- but it's interesting to get an outside perspective.

Without further delay, here is my number 5 theme/strength:

Analytical

Your Analytical theme challenges other people: "Prove it. Show me why what you are claiming is true." In the face of this kind of questioning some will find that their brilliant theories wither and die. For you, this is precisely the point. You do not necessarily want to destroy other people's ideas, but you do insist that their theories be sound. You see yourself as objective and dispassionate. You like data because they are value free. They have no agenda. Armed with these data, you search for patterns and connections. You want to understand how certain patterns affect one another. How do they combine? What is their outcome? Does this outcome fit with the theory being offered or the situation being confronted? These are your questions. You peel the layers back until, gradually, the root cause or causes are revealed. Others see you as logical and rigorous. Over time they will come to you in order to expose someone's "wishful thinking" or "clumsy thinking" to your refining mind. It is hoped that your analysis is never delivered too harshly. Otherwise, others may avoid you when that "wishful thinking" is their own.

This is probably appropriate as my #5. Data has its place in the world, but in my experience it isn't the complete solution to anything. Rigorous analysis can keep us from making tragic mistakes, but it can also annoy. Used wisely, it adds confidence and satisfaction. Used "harshly," or in such a way that makes one's intelligence seem more important than the common good, it's counterproductive.