The history of Strengths

In the past, psychology primarily concentrated on interventions aimed at reducing an individual's misery. However, Don Clifton, founder of CliftonStrengths, recognised a chance to improve this conventional approach by focusing on the "enabling conditions of life." Instead of solely examining what was wrong with people, Clifton believed in exploring what was right with them, which is the essence of strengths science. As a result of his pioneering work in this field, Clifton was recognised by the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2003, receiving a Presidential Commendation. He was acknowledged as the father of strengths-based psychology and the grandfather of positive psychology for his groundbreaking efforts.

What’s the difference between Talents and Strengths?

Don Clifton wrote that Talents are your "naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling or behaviour." They're the innate, natural abilities you can productively apply.

When he studied human behaviour, he noted hundreds of positive characteristics and saw that many of those characteristics had commonalities. Based on those common traits, he distilled them down into the 34 talent themes we know today as part of the CliftonStrengths platform. To identify the rank order of those 34 themes for yourself, take the CliftonStrengths assessment, which measures the presence of talents.

A Strength is the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific task. 

But to turn those talents into strengths, you must invest in them–practice using them and add knowledge and skills to them. Like any muscle, talent or skill, it requires practice and repetition to strengthen and improve it. The formula for this is simple: Talent x Investment = Strength.

Learn more about the Science of CliftonStrengths.

How do I get started?

So, you’re interested in identifying your innate talents and strengths, great! The first thing you need to do is take the assessment. Find out here how to buy Gallup's CliftonStrengths assessment.

If you’re not ready yet, and would like to have a conversation first, complete the enquiry form below and we’ll set up a time to chat.