Exploring the StrengthsFinder Theme of Intellection®
Have you ever sat next to someone who says “hmm?” or “huh?” when anything piques their interest? Have you ever noticed that when you give your colleague some time to think about a pressing problem, the solution provided is very refined?
These people might have the StrengthsFinder Theme of Intellection®.
Definition of Intellection®
A person with the Strength of Intellection® likes to think. They love intellectual activity and are typically very introspective, and this thinking process is happening all up in their head. This person actually “needs” intellectual activity. And this intellectual activity is typically about many, many topics.
Stimulating ideas or outlandish thoughts keeps them focused and productive. People with the Strength of Intellection® enjoy the continuous hum of mental activity. This activity may be narrowly focused or broad in scope. No matter the time or scope of the mental activity, the important factor to know about Intellection® is that this person’s mind is always ‘on’, always thinking and pondering about something.
The person with the Strength of Intellection® needs time to think. Typically, this person has a specific style to the way they think, a reliable place and method when they feel free to think. With a freedom and space to ponder, people with Intellection® think around and into whatever is an area of focus. The more they think, the more refined the thought becomes. People with Intellection can connect what they are thinking to other factors, but at times this process can lead to a spiral into the unknown.
Over and over again, the person with the Strength of Intellection® trains their brain to handle more and more activity. This type of mental activity might be somewhat like a discussion held within ones own mind, even to the point of becoming “real” to the person with Intellection®. However, this process does help refine and focus his thoughts.
How Intellection® is Generative
The generative nature of Intellection® comes in one’s ability to think into a challenge, idea, concept or principal with great care and depth. Intellection® is also generative because they can provide others with deep learnings and deep understanding, an appreciation for the best knowledge that has been well thought through and directly applied.
Although at times this process can lead to a dead end, Intellection® more often provides a wisdom, clarity and a firm foundation for others to build upon.
Examples of Intellection®
One man stood up after a session proclaiming that we had just helped him understand his 20-year marriage. He had the Strength of Intellection®. His wife would accuse him of not listening to her, but his “aha” was that he would start thinking about the first thing she said so intently… rolling those thoughts around in his head.
He really did stop listening, he didn’t hear the whole story. Weeks later, he reported back to us that he and has wife have established new patterns of relating and listening to each other because of this epiphany.
Another friend of ours gets up very early in the morning to spend an hour in quiet. She sips her tea and reads, writes, and ponders the thoughts in her mind. She looks forward to her morning routine, and gets by on little sleep. “Sleep,” she said, “is an interruption to her thought process.”
Your Intellection®
Do you have the Strength of Intellection® or know someone who does? How would you describe it?
