Books and Movies for Strengths

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Comment by Matthias Olavi on May 3, 2009 at 6:59am

Yesterday, I happend to watch "American Gangster" again on TV. The character played by Russel Crowe is a "good cop" hunting down mafia gangsters and corrupt police officers at the same time. I find him a powerful example of Belief, Command and/or Self-Assurance in action, in the way he confronts both attacks and "seductions" of gangsters, corrupt cops and one of his best friends. He also seems to have some sort of Ideation and/or Strategic as evidenced, for example, when tracking down the path how drugs are smuggled into the country.

As I think of the dominant talent of the character played by Denzel Washington, the "American Gangster", Discipline stands out so large that I have difficulty in identifying other talents: his daily routines (gets up at 5 am everyday, has breakfast in the same place...), his rigid adherence to a behaviour of a good citizen (church on Sunday...), his "anger management" in the face of severe provocations, the tight control on his organization.

Comment by Mel Ampthor on March 18, 2009 at 7:48pm

I am starting to compile pop culture icons / movies / songs / books for each strength as I believe that students will really resonate with the current definition of their own strenghts. They will be able to see the strengths played out in pop culture. Anyone have some interesting connections?

Comment by Linda J. Dunn on January 15, 2009 at 12:17pm

Just happened to be back on Ning today and couldn't believe I saw a Billy Elliot comment! Mr. Geddis - I just watched this fantastic movie again a few days ago and this time I was struck again and again about how it relates to finding your talents, making them strengths, and pursuing your calling or passion even in spite of huge challenges placed in your way. You are right about his description of how it feels to dance...it is my favorite part of the movie - this young person struggling to find the words and expressing so eloquently what he is feeling! Billy Elliot is definitely a "thumbs up" from me.

Comment by Scott Geddis on October 15, 2008 at 2:55pm

I would like to suggest watching Billy Elliot. Near the end of this wonderful film Billy and his father are being interviewed by the committee for acceptance at the ballet school. I believe Billy’s description of how it feels to dance may be one of the best descriptions of how a strength feels I have ever seen.

Comment by Fursey Gotuaco on October 5, 2008 at 8:33pm

Connectedness: The lead character in a TV series called Life. He says, "There is no such thing as random...Everything is connected". He tries to stay very zen about everything. He served 12 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit and has had a lot of time to think about everything....

Comment by Matthias Olavi on September 15, 2008 at 8:33pm

Thanks for your appreciative words, Fursey! I agree with you: it is already quite difficult to really understand one's top 5 or top 10 talents, let alone the tandem of these talents.

When I watched the directors' comments, it struck me that the title of the show "Lost" has a double meaning: it does not only refer to the fact that the survivors are lost on that island. On a deeper level, the main characters are lost in their lives. And the more I think of it, the more it dawns on me that the main characters like Locke, Jack, Sawyer, Kate seem to have strong talents but they are a bit "lost" with regard to how to make productive use of them! It seems that the extreme experience on that island helps them to recognize and develop their strengths somehow, and I guess this is at least one of the reasons why I like Lost so much.

Comment by Fursey Gotuaco on September 15, 2008 at 4:00pm

I have to tell you, I'm not much of a LOST fan. But, you're descriptions are so detailed that its as if I had been watching the show.... maybe this in and of itself speaks to the common language of Strengths?....

I really liked your thoughts on talents that had not been developed or conflicts that arise due to a lack of self-awareness of one's talents. Again, further reason to develop ones themes.

It is so easy to get caught treating these themes in isolation and forgetting that each theme works in tandem with the other top 4 - not to mention the other 29. And as you have described, it is so compelling to see a combination of themes at play within a person. I would imagine that this might be what leads to far more interesting characters and it is probably what makes our favorite stories so compelling even after many viewings.

Comment by Matthias Olavi on September 15, 2008 at 2:31pm

Dear Fursey, including TV shows and theatrical plays here is an excellent idea! I have to confess that I am not very knowledgeable about neither. I do not watch a lot of TV, but when I do, I have this "recurring pattern of behavior" (my Maximizer?) of analyzing actors for the talents they display, as well as the conflicts they sometimes cause with other people, especially when talents are still more "raw material" than real strengths.

For example, I am a great fan of LOST. When I see Jack, the doctor (Matthew Fox), I see Restorative all over him. If I remember correctly, his ex-wife accused him of being "obsessed with fixing things", what seems to be one of the major reasons for why their marriage broke apart. This may be an interesting example of a great talent that has been insufficiently developed into a strength. In general, his thinking talents must be high, somewhat at the expense of this relating and influencing talents. He seems to be the kind of doctor that is technically brilliant but rather cold and distant with his patients. And this probably explains also why he is always so reluctant to be the leader of the group of survivors.

Locke must have high Connectedness, as he is one of the first to sense the mystical or supernatural powers of the island. I see this as one of the main reasons why he often clashes with Dr. Jack, because the latter is a classic "rational thinker", not at all interested in any "Connectedness" theories. Another reason for the conflict between Locke and Jack is probably a strong Significance or maybe competition talent in Locke; he competes with Jack for the leadership role and gets really "kick-started" when people doubt his competence. I see also Input or maybe Learner in his "encyclopedical" knowledge about hunting, tracking, board games and many other things.

And Sawyer must have Input to the extreme. His first instinct after the crash is "collecting" stuff from the passenger's baggage, and he has great difficulty in giving things away. I find this hilarious as someone who has Input strong myself, although Sawyer's behavior is obviously often unethical. And Sawyer must have Competition, as well as a desire to Woo, the two of which being at conflict. Sawyer would probably recognize Woo (and Individualization) as talents to manipulate and defraud others, but he would probably deny Woo's recurring pattern of feeling of wanting to be admired by others. Yet this desire pops up again and again when he becomes too unpopular in his environment. You can see how he struggles with his desire to be popular, and yet he does everything to be unpopular! I find this a hilarious "talent quake" somehow!

Comment by Fursey Gotuaco on September 14, 2008 at 8:58pm

I think this is a fascinating way to view our strengths. As a teacher I love using not just movies and books but also theatrical plays and tv shows to examine themes.

I love encouraging students to look at characters and their motivations and actions through the lens of strengthsfinder themes. For example: Hamlet? how about Deliberative. Or Macbeth? Significance... How about Activator for Lady Macbeth. We could go further by looking examining Romeo's desire to stay out of the family conflict as his Harmony and yet it might be his Relator that compels him to avenge Mercutio's death.

My wife, who is also a strengths coach, and I love extending the movie going experience by discussing the characters through this lens.

Just to go a small step further, take a look at reality tv shows like Survivor. You can easily see how conflict occurs when themes clash. Some characters are aware of their talents (as we see their Activator get their teams moving forward) and yet others are blindsided by their themes(a Positivity doesn't realize that others are interpreting their comments as naive.

I know this is a little different from the pattern that you had established. I hope this is okay...

Comment by Matthias Olavi on September 14, 2008 at 1:06pm

For Significance, Competition and Thinking Talents:

Movie: "The Game" with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn

Similar to "The Devil's Advocate", I think this movie touches many issues that may be of concern for people with Significance, Competition, or people with a high proportion of thinking talents in their top 10 talents. It challenges you to think what really matters in life, and that not everything is about rational logic.

I quote from Amazon.com:
"It's not quite as clever as it tries to be, but The Game does a tremendous job of presenting the story of a rigid control freak trapped in circumstances that are increasingly beyond his control. Michael Douglas plays a rich, divorced, and dreadful investment banker whose 48th birthday reminds him of his father's suicide at the same age. He's locked in the cage of his own misery until his rebellious younger brother (Sean Penn) presents him with a birthday invitation to play "The Game" (described as "an experiential Book of the Month Club")--a mysterious offering from a company called Consumer Recreation Services. Before he knows the game has even begun, Douglas is caught up in a series of unexplained events designed to strip him of his tenuous security and cast him into a maelstrom of chaos. How do you play a game that hasn't any rules? That's what Douglas has to figure out, and he can't always rely on his intelligence to form logic out of what's happening to him. Seemingly cast as the fall guy in a conspiracy thriller, he encounters a waitress (Deborah Unger) who may or may not be trustworthy, and nothing can be taken at face value in a world turned upside down. Douglas is great at conveying the sheer panic of his character's dilemma, and despite some lapses in credibility and an anticlimactic ending, The Game remains a thinking person's thriller that grabs and holds your attention. --Jeff Shannon"

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