What If Clifton Strengths Were Factions from Divergent?

I’ll be the first to admit this to you: I’m a huge nerd. I fell in love with Divergent three years ago and had been slightly obsessed with it until I finished the final installment earlier this year. After seeing the movie last weekend, I was tossed back into the thoughts of what faction would I choose (because I’d be divergent, obviously) which led me to thinking about the Clifton Strengths that we provide all of our participants. What if we divided the Strengths into the Divergent factions?

Original images from Divergentfans.com

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Divergent, the premise is about a teenage girl living in a dystopian version of Chicago where the people  of the city are divided into factions based on personality types and values to sustain a peaceful society. Those who show traits of more than one faction are called divergent. The factions are:

Dauntless (brave): "We believe in freedom from fear, in ordinary acts of bravery"

Erudite (intelligence): "Knowledge is the only logical solution to conflict"

Candor (honesty): "Dishonesty makes evil possible"

Abnegation (selfless): "I will be my undoing if I become my obsession"

Amity (peace): "Trust. Self-sufficiency. Forgiveness. Kindness."

Of course, everyone can’t be thrust into one category. You value more than just honesty, or just bravery, or just knowledge. You are more than the sum of your parts, just like you are more than just your stop 5 Strengths. We are all divergent. We are more than our Strengths, but it's good to know those Strengths so that you can find jobs that have opportunities for you to use your natural talents. However, I’ve divided up the Strengths based on values/traits of the factions. For example, those who are Focus are particularly good at follow through and stay on track by setting goals. This seems like the trait of someone who is in Dauntless due to it’s military-like structure and dedication. Someone who is Harmony would be in Amity because shared values of the group are important.

Clifton Strengths Finder

What does this mean? Nothing. It's just an interesting way to look at your unique Strengths. Just because you’re Discipline doesn’t mean you enjoy jumping off trains. It is interesting to note that the Clifton Strengths are divided into four domains: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking. I noticed that most Strengths in the Executing category fall into Dauntless, Relationship Building is Amity and Abnegation, Strategic and Influencing are Candor and Erudite.

What do you think? Do your Strengths fall into the factions that you would choose for yourself? Be sure to check out our website for more information about Global Experiences internship programs and career development using the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.

photo credit: panoysia via photopin