At Ridiculously Efficient, we are big fans of personality assessments. They help us learn about ourselves -- how we react in certain situations, how our instincts influence us, and the character traits that drive us. This information has also helped us better communicate with people in and outside of work, and allowed us to pinpoint the tasks we both enjoy and excel at. This knowledge has even helped us better serve you (our readers) and our clients.
Check out the four Ridiculously Efficient approved personality assessments below.
Kolbe A Index
Kolbe Corp provides a variety of assessments, all based on our natural instincts and tendencies. The Kolbe A Index focuses on the conative part of the brain, identifying where you land on the scale in four categories: Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start and Implementor.
My score is 7-5-7-2. This means I am a high Fact Finder and high Quick Start. I am a low Implementer and am middle of the road when it comes to Follow Thru.
Here’s what that means.
Fact Finder (7): I strategize when it comes to the way I gather and share information. Some of the characteristics of a high Fact Finder include: research in-depthly, provide historical evidence, create analogies, and establish specific priorities. I tend to ask a lot of follow-up questions and am not satisfied until I am given every detail. For someone who is a low Fact Finder, they simplify and only give and get the information that they deem necessary.
Follow Thru (5): I maintain systems and process. Follow Thru refers to how you instinctively arrange and design. For me, I can maintain complex organizational symptoms, but I don’t necessarily design them. I’m good at drafting guidelines, coordinating schedules and maintaining order. Someone who is a high Follow Thru naturally creates systems and processes in every aspect of their lives. A person who is a low Follow Thru might find it difficult to stay within a specified schedule or routine.
Quick Start (7): Your Quick Start scores identifies how you instinctively react to risks and the unknown. As a high Quick Start, I am able to innovate when faced with chaos. I can initiate change, improvise, brainstorm possibilities, and ad lib storytelling and/or presentations. A low Quick Start has a natural resistance to risk. This means they need a balance between what will change and what will stay the same -- which makes them great at sensing a potential crisis.
Implementor (2): Implementor tells us how we instinctively handle space and tangibles. As a low Implementer, I am good at creating abstract concepts, sketch ideas and envisioning the end goal. A high Implementor is very hands-on -- they build solutions by manipulating and constructing. A high implementor does not want to discuss solutions but rather wants to create the solutions themselves.
The Kolbe A Index costs $49.95.
Fascination Advantage
The Fascination Advantage is a different kind of personality assessment and tells you how the world sees you. It identifies a primary advantage, a secondary advantage and a dormant advantage to place you in one of 49 personality archetypes. This 28-question assessment will take as little as 5 minutes to complete -- and the payoff is well worth it!
According to my test results, I fall into the archetype called The Intrigue. I walk a fine line between viewing the world in an analytical way and connecting with it emotionally. The most complex of the archetypes, I am difficult to get to know, am not superficial, and don’t always show what I am thinking. On the other hand, I can make strong emotional connections very quickly. When I communicate, I do so colourfully.
The way I create value is through my ability to communicate in a way that captivates others, my ability to understand others’ ideas and feelings, and my approachable style that allows others to see me as an “open book.”
Other personality archetypes include The People’s Champion, The Trendsetter, and The Good Citizen.
The Fascination Advantage personality assessment is free.
CliftonStrengths
The CliftonStrengths personality assessment identifies your top 5 traits -- the things you are naturally best at. Knowing what these top 4 traits are can help you best identify how and where to use your talents most effectively.
My top 5 strengths are:
- Strategic: I can easily see patterns and issues, and can create alternative routes to reach the same goal.
- Empathy: I can place myself in another’s shoes, giving myself the ability to sense how that person might be feeling.
- Activator: I bring ideas to life by turning thoughts into action.
- Maximizer: I spot talent and strengths in other people and am able to help them realize their own potential.
- Communication: I find it easy to express myself, whether by writing, through conversation or in a presentation.
The CliftonStrengths assessment is $19.99.
Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies
The Four Tendencies test is a simple and easy questionnaire that identifies how you respond to expectations. Rubin has created four categories that each person can be placed into -- while most will find that they identify with more than one of these categories, there is usually one that stands out.
The four tendencies are:
- Upholder: ready to take on expectations from yourself and others
- Questioner: questions expectations and will only meet expectations if they agree with the “why”
- Obligers: readily meet expectations from others but struggle to meet expectations from themselves
- Rebels: resist expectations from others and themselves
Identifying which tendency you are most like will help you better understand why you react to certain situations the way you do. Having family members and teammates complete the quiz will help to open up lines of communication. For example, since I am a Questioner, I need people to explain their reasoning when they present an expectation to me -- and I will only meet that expectation if I deem the reasoning valid.
The Four Tendencies quiz is free.
