Comparing the Clifton Strengths and Working Genius assessments
Using strengths-based personality assessments in the workplace
Personality assessment tools focused on identifying strengths and work style preferences support organizations in creating high-performing workforces and healthier work environments. Strengths-based and preference-based assessment tools help create effective leaders who understand and leverage employees’ natural strengths and preferred work styles, to enhance job fit, tailor task assignments, and maximize productivity.
When working in roles aligned with their strengths, employees feel more valued as team members and more fulfilled by their work. This boosts feelings of confidence and belonging, which improves engagement, collaboration, and communication and leads to higher-performing teams that drive outcomes that matter.
What’s the difference between CliftonStrengths and Working Genius?
Both CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) and Working Genius center around individual strengths, but they have distinctly different approaches. While CliftonStrengths aims to help individuals and organizations leverage personal talents for overall development and performance, Working Genius seeks to enhance productivity and team efficiency by aligning tasks with work style preferences.
CliftonStrengths Personality Types
Developed by Don Clifton and later purchased and enhanced by Gallup, CliftonStrengths identifies an individual’s top talents, providing insights into their natural abilities (what they do best) and potential areas for development (where they might need help from others). It emphasizes the application of personal strengths for personal and professional growth.
CliftonStrengths types people using 34 themes of talent split across four domains of leadership:
- Executing: Themes that make things happen, implement, and turn ideas into reality — Achiever, Arranger, Belief, Consistency, Deliberative, Discipline, Focus, Responsibility, and Restorative.
- Influencing: Themes take charge, speak up, and make sure others are heard — Activator, Command, Communication, Competition, Maximizer, Self-Assurance, Significance, and Woo.
- Relationship Building: Themes that nurture connections and build strong relationships — Adaptability, Connectedness, Developer, Empathy, Harmony, Includer, Individualization, Positivity, and Relator.
- Strategic Thinking: Themes that absorb and analyze information to make better decisions — Analytical, Context, Futuristic, Ideation, Input, Intellection, Learner, and Strategic.
Working Genius Personality Types
Created by Patrick Lencioni, Working Genius uncovers how individuals contribute to work processes through six specific types of work activities, identifying which activities give them energy and which drain them. It aids in optimizing team roles and workflows by aligning tasks with individual energy sources.
Working Genius categorizes people using six types of work activities that individuals naturally gravitate toward:
- Genius of Wonder (W): The ability to ponder possibilities and ask questions about what is needed or could be improved.
- Genius of Invention (I): The ability to create new ideas and solutions from scratch.
- Genius of Discernment (D): The ability to assess ideas and plans and determine their viability and potential.
- Genius of Galvanizing (G): The ability to rally and inspire others to take action.
- Genius of Enablement (E): The ability to support and assist others in implementing ideas and plans.
- Genius of Tenacity (T): The ability to push projects to completion and ensure quality and standards are met.
What are the organizational benefits of using assessment tools like CliftonStrengths or Working Genius?
Benefits of using CliftonStrengths
CliftonStrengths helps organizations identify and leverage employees’ natural talents, enabling individuals to maximize their potential. By focusing on what people do best, organizations can place employees in roles where they are most likely to succeed and feel fulfilled.
- Employees who use their strengths daily are more engaged and happy with their work. This leads to higher productivity and lower turnover rates, creating a more stable and engaged workforce.
- Understanding the unique strengths of each team member helps leaders build strategic, cohesive teams by balancing complementary strengths and creating an effective working environment.
- CliftonStrengths promotes a culture of continuous improvement and encourages employees to further develop their natural talents to achieve career goals and contribute to organizational objectives.
Benefits of using Working Genius
With clear insights into how each team member contributes to its workflows, the Working Genius assessment provides organizations tools to optimize team roles and processes. By identifying the work activities that energize and drain each individual, leaders can align tasks with natural inclinations, build effective teams, and drive impressive results.
- When the right people are assigned the right tasks, they are more likely to deliver high-quality results in less time. When doing work they enjoy, employees are more productive and go the extra mile.
- Working Genius identifies different stages of work (ideation, activation, implementation) and who is best suited for each stage. This clarity enhances project management, ensuring that projects move smoothly from concept to completion.
- Doing work that aligns with their “geniuses” leads to individuals reporting higher levels of job satisfaction. This alignment leads to stronger teams and improved loyalty and retention.
How the CliftonStrengths assessment works
The CliftonStrengths assessment is grounded in positive psychology and research conducted by Donald Clifton, the “father of strengths-based psychology.” The assessment measures talent themes — natural patterns of thought, feelings, and behaviors — identified through empirical research and data analysis. Organizations can use the results to optimize role assignments, enhance team collaboration, and develop professional growth plans.
The CliftonStrengths experience
Completing the CliftonStrengths assessment typically takes 30-45 minutes.
Participants are presented with 177 paired statements. For each pair, they choose which statement best describes them within a 20-second timeframe. Participants receive a personalized report detailing their top five dominant themes out of 34 possible themes. The report includes descriptions of each theme, insights into how their strengths manifest in their work and personal life, and suggestions for maximizing their strengths.
How the Working Genius assessment works
Unlike MCode, which has been used for executive headhunting, recruiting, and coaching for more than 60 years, Working Genius is new to the assessment scene. The Working Genius assessment is based on the research and theories developed by Patrick Lencioni and his team in 2020. It measures how individuals perceive and react to different types of work. It focuses on six types of work activities people naturally gravitate toward and find fulfilling.
Organizations can use the assessment to enhance team dynamics, streamline workflows, and improve productivity and efficiency.
The Working Genius experience
Completing the Working Genius assessment typically takes 10-15 minutes.
Participants answer a series of questions designed to identify which of the six types of work activities energize them and which drain them. The assessment results identify an individual’s two Working Geniuses, two Working Competencies, and two Working Frustrations. The report provides detailed descriptions of each category and insights into how they can leverage their Geniuses and manage their Frustrations.
Criticisms of CliftonStrengths and Working Genius
Both CliftonStrengths and Working Genius offer valuable insights into individual strengths and work preferences and how they play out in teams, yet they face criticism for their limited focus and lack of comprehensive understanding of motivation.
Criticism for CliftonStrengths
- Neglect of Weaknesses: CliftonStrengths focuses heavily on identifying and leveraging strengths, often at the expense of recognizing and addressing weaknesses. Critics argue that a comprehensive development plan should include areas where improvement is needed to ensure balanced growth.
- Lack of Intrinsic Motivation Insights: While CliftonStrengths identifies what individuals are naturally good at, it does not address why they are motivated to perform these tasks. This gap means results don’t fully capture behavioral drivers and intrinsic motivations that influence how and why people use their strengths in specific contexts.
Criticism for Working Genius
- Narrow Focus: Working Genius is criticized for its limited focus on specific types of work activities, which may overlook broader aspects of personality and skills that contribute to overall job performance and career success. It does not provide a comprehensive view of an individual’s capabilities.
- Surface-Level Insights: Although the workplace assessment identifies activities that energize individuals, it fails to address underlying motivations that drive their preferences. It lacks a full exploration of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors that influence how individuals approach their work and collaborate within teams.
Pair CliftonStrengths or Working Genius with MCode
Personality assessments like CliftonStrengths and Working Genius miss a critical element: Motivation. Understanding what drives your employees is essential for developing high performers and building high-performing teams. This is Motivation Code’s sweet spot.
The MCode assessment goes beyond identifying strengths to reveal the core drivers behind individual performance — the why powering a person’s thoughts, decisions, and actions. This deep understanding of motivation empowers organizations to align roles with natural advantages and work that lights people up so they can boost engagement, drive high performance, and cultivate talent effectively.
MCode helps organizations increase efficiency by turning good teams into extraordinary teams. Add the MCode assessment to your toolbox to build a high-performing workforce that delivers exceptional results. It stands on its own and can be used alongside any other assessment tool you have in place.
Want to learn more about MCode?
Check out these resources to learn about the MCode assessment and discover the benefits of leveraging motivation in the workplace:
- Learn more about MCode’s 32 Motivations and 8 Motivational Dimensions.
- Learn how MCode sets up organizations to win more often.
- Learn how MCode helps agencies close more deals and retain clients.
- Learn how MCode empowers leaders to inspire and lead with confidence.
- Learn how MCode helps teams collaborate effectively and move fast.
- Learn how MCode equips coaches to drive lasting transformation.
- Learn how MCode helps individuals perform at their best.