At MasterBorn, we believe in strengths-based development which is an approach that focuses on identifying and developing an individual's strengths, rather than focusing on their weaknesses. Every newcomer is invited to take a Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment to identify their top talents.

The individual assessment consists of 177 questions and takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. It measures an individual's natural talents in 34 areas, which are organized into 34 themes in four domains: executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking.

Wonder what are the differences between the talents of our Tech Team and Product Team? Keep reading.

Why Focus on Strengths?

At MasterBorn we believe in Growth and Acceptance which are two of our four core values.

As several studies confirm, when individuals are able to build on their talents at work, they’re more likely to be content, and engaged both at work and at home.

As an organization, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

There are several benefits to strength-based development:

• Increased self-awareness

Strength-based development helps individuals gain a better understanding of themselves, be more appreciative toward themselves and not assume that what they’re good at is universal.

• Improved relationships

When individuals are aware of their strengths and the strengths of others in the team, they can communicate more effectively and are more likely to build strong relationships with others. That was one of the biggest lessons at the beginning of my career. It helped me realize that others are not annoying or slow. They’re simply good at identifying risks or need more time to reflect.

• Greater resilience

Focusing on strengths can help individuals build resilience because they’re better able to navigate challenges and setbacks by drawing on their natural talents.

• Increased engagement and performance

When individuals are able to use their strengths in their roles, they’re more likely to be engaged and motivated to perform at a high level. I for one am not detail-oriented. You didn’t find any typos in this article only because of our amazing publishing team. If I ended up with a career in accounting, I would be drained and burned out by now. Instead, I’m able to use my strengths at work which brings me a lot of joy and fun.

Overall, strength-based development can help individuals achieve greater success and satisfaction in their work and personal lives by focusing on what they do well and building on their natural strengths.

Exploring the differences in Gallup Strengths between Tech Team and Product Team

There are many common stereotypes about developers, such as lacking social skills or empathy, being incapable of talking to people and even not liking people at all. This couldn't be further from the truth. Many developers possess talents such as empathy, leadership, or creativity, which are invaluable in the workplace and benefit their careers.

When we look at the talents of our Tech Team (Developers + Testers) and our Product Team (Product Owners + Product Designers + Scrum Masters), do we see any patterns? How do those two groups differ and what do they have in common?

Top Talents of Our Tech Team

Top five most frequent talents of our Tech Team are:

• Restorative

Those in the restorative theme are great at dealing with problems. They immediately notice what isn’t working and won’t rest until it’s resolved.

• Analytical

People talented in the analytical theme are great at digging all the way to root causes. They don’t simply believe, they need the proof. Their motto could be the Edwards Deming quote, "Without data you're just another person with an opinion."

• Harmony

Harmonious people look for agreement. They don't relish conflict. Rather, they seek areas of consensus.

• Individualization

People who score high in individualization are fascinated by the unique qualities of each person. They know their likes, dislikes, needs, wants and are able use that information to have everyone work together productively.

• Relator

Relators seek close, deep relationships with other people. They like to get to know people better, but not just any people. They want to know the people they already know even better. When they go to a conference, they’d rather stick with people they already know than go out of their way to meet new people. They find joy in working with friends to achieve a goal.

And as a bonus, what might surprise some of you, #6 is empathy.

Breaking news folks — developers and testers are capable of talking to other people!
Even more shocking is that they do enjoy it and are naturally talented!

Three out of five main talents on our Tech Team are related to people and relationships. Seems like their place is not in the basement after all.

Top Talents of our Product Team

Let’s now take a look at our Product Team. Their five most frequent talents are:

• Individualization

(same as above)

• Responsibility

This theme forces people to take personal ownership for anything they’re tasked with. They cannot let it go until they follow it through to completion. Their good name depends on it.

• Arranger

These people can — surprise, surprise — arrange. All the moving parts and pieces don’t scare them. They’re there to juggle all the moving parts and for maximum productivity.

• Relator

(same as above)

• Activator

Activators can turn thoughts into action. They make things happen. Best time to start acting is NOW — or preferably yesterday. Their mind seems to scream: “Ok, enough of that talking nonsense, let’s get this party started.”

When you think about daily work of a Product Owner or a Product Designer you might indeed picture someone arranging, initiating and carrying responsibility. So there might be a pattern there.

After all they are responsible for driving the project to completion alongside the team. From establishing and communicating product vision, defining and prioritizing the product backlog, collaborating with the development teams, they ensure the product meets the needs of stakeholders.

Patterns Don’t Equal Strict Paths

Of course, your talents or natural abilities don’t set strict limits on your career. As much as we do see some patterns in those groups, there are also colleagues in each of them that possess completely different sets of talents. And we love to see that. You don’t want 15 people on the team, all with the same talents. You want variety and diversity of thought and of judgment.

Gallup emphasizes that your talents do not determine what you are capable of doing but rather how you approach your work. And those talents that are not in your top five are not your weaknesses. Those are simply strategies you use less often and Gallup does not recommend you “fix” your themes, but rather embrace them.

Talent is only one thing. It’s critical to also make an investment in that talent and experience you bring along. So even people who are not naturally talented in something can become better at it than naturally talented people if they invested more time to develop it.

Same as in sports — some are naturally more talented but this is not always enough. It’s training and dedication that wins the gold medal, not talent on its own. You must put in a time investment to turn a talent into a strength.

It’s all about your passion and investment in growing your skills.

3 ways we DO NOT use result of the test

Here are three ways we don’t use the results of Gallup CliftonStrengths Assessment:

• Recruitment — We don’t use results as a basis for our recruitment process or to even supplement it and you shouldn’t either. There is no evidence that to become a successful accountant or a sales person you need a specific profile of talents. Not to mention that this is self-assessment so if you want to manipulate it, you can.
  Your competence, skills and experience is all that matters to us.

• Staffing and task allocation — We don’t form or break teams based on major talents. There is no evidence that people with similar or opposing profiles will work better together and achieve goals faster.

• Raises and promotion — We don’t take test results into consideration when offering raises or promotions. We look at your performance, the value you bring to our clients and how well you fit our values.

In my career, I’ve noticed that sometimes people treat the results of those tests too seriously — either to confirm bias, pigeonhole people, or deny opportunities. In my view, that’s neither accurate nor ethical.

What I like about this test and other tests such as the MBTI, though, is that they’re great starting points for a discussion. Discussion about diversity, preferences, how we differ and why that’s good. That everyone has different talents but once we uncover them and talk about the way we work, we are going to grow stronger as an organization.

It’s also a great opportunity for self-reflection. One of the talents I scored high on in the CliftonStrengths test was maximizer, which I thought must have been a mistake. Maximizers seek to transform something good already into something superb. They’re less excited to work on something broken to bring it up to a decent level.

“That’s not me,” I thought. “I’m not a perfectionist.”

But several people on my team thought it was totally obvious — and could list examples. I learned something new about myself that day. If I see a way to improve something, I will. Especially where others don't see any room for improvement anymore.

My other female colleague looked at the report and said: "Well, I can see myself in it. It seems about right, but where are talents?" We are so used to our abilities that we start considering them the standard baseline for everyone. But they aren’t and it's good to take a moment to appreciate ourselves.

Curious about your talents? Check out our career page and apply to one of several open positions and chat with our Learning and Development expert.

Celebrate your remarkable talents on a team that values you.