Category 03 · 10 frameworks

Self-Awareness & Strengths

Methods for understanding how you work, what you do best and where your blind spots are.

Johari Window

Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham (1955) A four-pane model comparing what you know about yourself with what others know. The panes are open, blind, hidden and unknown. 02

CliftonStrengths

Donald O. Clifton; Gallup An assessment that identifies your most dominant talent themes from a set of 34. The idea is to invest in developing strengths rather than only fixing weaknesses. 03

Personal SWOT

Adapted from SWOT analysis, a business strategy tool with no single confirmed originator Apply the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats grid to yourself and your career. It links internal factors to your external environment. 04

Big Five Personality Traits

Trait psychology research by multiple researchers, including Lewis Goldberg, Paul Costa and Robert McCrae A widely researched model describing personality across five broad traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Each trait is a spectrum, not a type. 05

Reflected Best Self Exercise

Laura Morgan Roberts, Gretchen Spreitzer, Jane Dutton, Robert Quinn, Emily Heaphy and Brianna Barker (University of Michigan Center for Positive Organizations) Gather stories from people who know you about times you were at your best, then find patterns across them. It builds a picture of strengths grounded in real examples. 06

Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle

David A. Kolb (Experiential Learning, 1984) Learning moves through four stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation. Working through all four turns experience into improvement. 07

Feedback Analysis

Peter F. Drucker ('Managing Oneself', Harvard Business Review) Write down what you expect to happen when you make a key decision, then compare it with the actual results months later. Over time this reveals where your real strengths lie. 08

VIA Character Strengths

Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman; VIA Institute on Character A classification of 24 character strengths, such as curiosity, fairness and perseverance. It focuses on positive qualities rather than skills. 09

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

Graham Gibbs (Learning by Doing, 1988) A six-stage structure for reflecting on an experience: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. 10

Personal Values Card Sort

William R. Miller and colleagues, University of New Mexico (public-domain exercise) An exercise where you sort a deck of value statements by how important each is to you, revealing the few values that genuinely drive your choices.

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