In strengths based collaborations, groups explicitly factor each person's strengths into questions about inclusion and assignment to make sure the right strengths are engaged and optimized at the right time. Strengths include knowledge, experience, skills, abilities and personal character qualities. Groups take time to get to know everyone's strengths. This can be done proactively at the beginning of new collaborations. They can also be done reflectively at the point of achievements. On the reflective side, we identify what strengths contributed to successes.
We can also name weaknesses which are simply poorly timed strengths. The research evidence points to the fact that high engagement and performing groups focus on strengths in ways that make their weaknesses irrelevant. For other strengths needed, we look to how else to include other people with additional and complementary strengths.
