As a married couple and lay counselors we find this a nifty and useful resource for pre-marriage and marriages that have a strong foundation of commitment. We liked the emphasis on self awareness and "other awareness" (awareness of our significant other) because this is vital to all relationships. We give the book kudos in that category which is why we can recommend this to younger couples.
What lacked, however, is accountability. The premise of Strength Finders, is to focus on strengths which is definitely affirming but far too positive. It creates a mentality that nothing is wrong, no one is wrong, no one has weaknesses and so the only issue is misunderstanding and miscommunication. This leaves no room to grow, because we're not really being asked to grow from a weaker state, we're only being asked to acknowledge our strengths. While the book moderately tackled this when speaking about "undeveloped strengths," it still left much to be desired from a "depth" perspective. With that in mind, the book can't appropriately address the harder issues that come up in marriage regarding lack of character (i.e. infidelity, neglect, narcissism, abandonment, etc.)
This book is a healthy approach to a team player mentality and organizing the team to be at its best. However, when addressing organizational development, whether in business or marriage, It is imperative to measure strengths as well as opportunities for "growth" in order to develop a truly effective individual. When it comes to matters of character or areas of hurt and pain that come in a marriage, this book has no answers outside of affirming a person's strengths. Since couples rarely seek help until something drastic has occurred or erupted, we would find it difficult to recommend this book. With that in mind, the book is good for where it's at, but for it to be great, it needs a lot more depth and strength of its own.
