by: Sophie Zuckerman ’25
Includer, achiever, learner, activator. These are just some of the many qualities that everyone possesses according to the Clifton Strengths assessment. This year, Director of Engineering and Design Dr. Daniel Aviv has brought in a new approach to students learning about themselves and their teamwork, through the Clifton Strengths assessment. According to the Clifton Strengths website, the Clifton Strengths Test is; “An Assessment that measures your talents – your natural patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving – and categorize them into 34 CliftonStrenth themes.”
Aviv has many goals in what he hopes to achieve through the Clifton Strengths assessment. Mainly, he hopes for students to take what they learn from their results, and to use it to their advantage in the class and life.
“In our teachings, we emphasize the importance of having a growth mindset and the belief that one can improve in various areas,” Aviv said.” The tests aim to help students identify their natural talents, recognizing that each trait has both positive and negative qualities, and the goal is to use these talents to achieve success.”
The results of the Clifton Strengths assessment can be somewhat difficult to understand. Some of the traits being woo, maximizer and intellection. To help students further understand the results they received on the assessment, Aviv held two Sunday workshops. In these workshops, a guest speaker further educated students on what each trait really means, and helped students to understand how their results applied to themselves.
“Originally I could not really understand how accurate the test really was,” Junior Mitchell Breakstone said. “Then there was the workshop, which certainly helped me learn more about my traits. When I learned about what all the results meant and I dove deeper into the evaluation, I even began to feel a little bit creeped out at how accurate the test really was.”
The Clifton Strengths assessment does not only tell a person their top traits, it also tells a person what their bottom traits are. This experience of not only seeing the positive aspects, but also looking at ones weaknesses has had a constructive effect on Sophomore Hayden Cohen’s work in Engineering and Entrepreneurship (E2) .
“Through these tests, you get to see how compatible you are with others, so knowing that they might have traits that are low on my list definitely makes us a better team,” Cohen said. “Knowing that you and your partner have different strengths and weaknesses really does help with collaboration.”
The skills and knowledge gained from the Clifton Strengths assessment can be carried on to many other aspects in students’ lives, and that is what Aviv wishes for.
“I hope that students will apply their newfound knowledge of their talents to all areas of their life, including relationships with family and friends, as well as other classes and not just in E2,” Aviv said. “Having a better understanding of who you are is only to your advantage.”
Aviv is aiming for students to understand one’s own strengths through the Clifton Strengths assessment, but a major part of the end goal of Aviv doing these tests is to have more insight on group collaboration.
“In our team-building exercises, we will examine our talent profiles as a group and strive to improve our teamwork efficiency,” Aviv said. “It is crucial to be transparent about our strengths and weaknesses, but we should avoid labeling ourselves. Our focus should be on enhancing our team performance.”
