Strengths Finder 2.0

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Pete

I recently read Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. As part of reading the book you take the online test The Clifton StrengthsFinder, which they describe thus:

The Clifton StrengthsFinder measures the presence of talent in 34 categories called “themes.” These themes were determined by Gallup as those that most consistently predict outstanding performance. The greater the presence of a theme of talent within a person, the more likely that person is to spontaneously exhibit those talents in day-to-day behaviors.

The test tells you what your key (i.e. top five) strengths are. The premise behind the whole thing, which I would find it hard to disagree with, is that you should focus on developing and using your strengths rather than trying, vainly to make any significant inroads with you weaknesses.

A large part of the book is then devoted to providing you ‘suggested actions’ based on your strengths and to a lesser degree some ideas on how to work with people with certain strengths.

They also suggest you share these with people with whom you collaborate, so here you go…

Futuristic People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.
Activator People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.
Focus People who are especially talented in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.
Responsibility People who are especially talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.
Strategic People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

I don’t know if I would have picked exactly these five but there are certainly a lot of things that I didn’t get that definitely aren’t my strengths so, maybe… If anything the excercise has reassured me that I’m working towards the right goals, which is nice.

So, to it…

The 4-Hour Work Week

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Pete

This is my brief review of The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss, posted to the PMBA Forums.

4-Hour Work Week Cover

I chose to read The 4-Hour Work Week at this point for some specific reasons, beyond the mere fact that it is a PMBA text. I’d just quit my job, moved to a new country and was looking to start a fresh, not with my own business at this stage but with a new ‘corporate’ job. I was not disappointed by the choice to read this book, now.

The greatest value from the book for me was further proof behind the idea that there is another way, beyond the regular approach to corporate life, and that it’s achievable. I found that in this respect the book was inspiring and instructional.

There are some real gems in the book regarding personal productivity, Timothy Ferris has taken this to quite some extremes but there is a lot of food for thought in the book regarding virtual personal assistance, outsourcing, managing inputs, prioritisation of your life goals and more.

The book is organised such that if you want to follow the Timothy’s path fairly closely then it’s a step-by-step how-to, this was done with out detracting from it’s readability by someone taking another route.

I found that the specific ideas around what your business might do or how to go about achieving it (roughly the middle part of the book) not always relevant to my situation or likely projects. It steered dangerously close to ‘get rich quick schemes’ at times which left me a little cold. For me the passing references to ‘information products’ were closer to my likely projects and would have made for more pertinent examples that were, shall we say, for business ventures with more noble aims.

Again, the greatest value of the book was that he promotes an approach to life, and your happiness in it, which resonated with me in quite a profound way. Beyond that there was a lot of practical advice for managing your life and your business in such a way as to maximise your time, hopefully for more fun and happiness.

An enjoyable and useful read. The book is backed up by a great web site with extra material, surely a must nowadays.

Brain Rules

Posted on July 6, 2009 by Pete

Brain Rules

I’ve not long finished reading the book Brain Rules, by John Medina.

I came upon Brain Rules, not initially as it is a PMBA text but from a Slideshare ‘Brain Rules for Presenters’ by Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen (also a PMBA book). Check out the Slideshare.

I found the book to be a joy to read and engaging throughout, enlivened by anecdotes and stories both personal to author and from the research on which the book is based. This technique is explained in the book but the book itself is a fantastic example of it in action.

The structure of the book as 12 ‘rules’ worked really well for me. Giving me a mental framework off which to hang the information. Each rule / chapter then containing an explanation of what is known scientifically, presented in such a way makes sense to a layman such as myself and made engaging through stories. Each section then having suggestions (or hopes, perhaps) for further research and then the real gems of what the rule means for you in your personal life, business life or education life.

The website that accompanies the book will serve to whet your appetite if you’ve not read the book or reinforce the learning if you have.

The most important sections for me, where I will be seeking to implement what I learned were the parts on how we learn and remember and the impact of stress, sleep and exercise on how I learn and work.

Read this book for fun, read it for an understanding of brain science, read it for some useful take-aways for your personal, business and educational life, or better yet read it for all these reasons.

This review has also been posted to the PMBA Forums.

Personal MBA

Posted on April 6, 2007 by Pete

I’ve been dwelling on blogging this for a while because I wanted to have something other than just good intentions to talk about and that is hopefully where I am now, sort of. I’m taking the personal MBA. What’s that you ask? Well, let me tell you.

The personal mba as described on it’s web site is “an experiment in educational entrepreneurism” or perhaps more helpfully “set aside some dedicated reading time, pick up a good book, learn as much as you can, and go out and make great things happen”. The idea is built around a list of 42 books that if read, studied, discussed, absorbed would allow you to “progressively develop a greater understanding of business” and, better yet, “increase your effectiveness”.

The manifesto that describes it is here http://personalmba.com/manifesto/.

So, my journey has begun. I’ve read my first book off the list – David Allen’s Getting Things Done and am another convert to GTD. I’ve been using MonkeyGTD for a while. I’m now reading Keith Ferrazzi’s never eat alone, which isn’t on the list but I did hear about through the pmba forums. Through the forums I also found How To Read which is an amazingly effective technique.

A few of us down at the Muppet Show have been talking about it and it seems to be quite a popular concept, I’m certainly excited about it. If nothing else it gives you a structure to your self-learning and keeps you focused. What would be nice is if it became more widely recognised in the future and almost becomes a one-liner on your cv that tells potential employers that you are serious about your own personal development.