By Jessica Garcia
In 2017 the Gallup Organization changed the name of the StrengthsQuest assessment. The new name is officially CliftonStrengths or CliftonStrengths for Students. When I first heard about this change I was a confused. I’ve been an advocate of StrengthsQuest and its underlying principles for over 12 years. Why change the name of something with such a loyal following?
In “meme” terms, this was me:
As I read about the reason for the change, I let go of my negativity and focused on the positive, just like Don Clifton would want me to! Regardless of the name, the assessment has always been about understanding your personality from the perspective of positive psychology. Even when it was called StrengthsQuest or StrengthsFinder 2.0, it was still the assessment invented by Don Clifton.
CliftonStrengths and CliftonStrengths for Students identifies individual traits that have the greatest potential for building strengths. According to Gallup’s technical report, CliftonStrengths “presents 177 items that each consists of a pair of potential self-descriptors. These items are based on the theory and research foundation associated with semi-structured personal interviews that Selection Research Incorporated and Gallup … used for more than 30 years”.
Knowing that the research behind CliftonStrengths has been around for 30 years … well, in “meme” terms, this is me now:
Happy JCCC Strengths Week 2017!
Learn about all the activities happening this week by stopping by one of the many information tables around campus or find out how you can participate online.