Data Dome Blog: News and Events

Our very own DISC Behavioral Expert and founder of Data Dome, Arthur Schoeck, was recently interviewed by personal branding expert David Cohen for the Internet radio program “Be a Beacon: Personal Branding with David Cohen.” The 35 minute discussion covers topics ranging from establishing yourself as an expert in your field to how DISC profiles and assessments designed to measure values and motivation can be helpful in understanding your personal strengths and weaknesses, an essential foundation for establishing your personal brand.

Schoeck and Cohen also discussed how DISC assessments can provide insights into preferred communication styles – valuable information for aligning your intentions with the reputation that you are building with each interpersonal interaction.

The show recorded on July 26, 2010, is available for listening by following this link: Be a Beacon – Personal Branding with David Cohen – Special Guest: DISC Expert Arthur Schoeck

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Last post we discussed how behavioral style analysis is an instinctive part of parenting – at least the observational skill, if not the vocabulary and structure. In the discussion we mentioned that the parent’s own behavior profile can indicate a tendency to “side” with one child over another if that child’s communication preferences are driven by a similar behavior style as the parent’s style. It is important to realize that behaviors are not necessarily inherited. Just because Mom is a High D, doesn’t mean that her kids will share that behavioral emphasis.

A parent’s style might match one child, but not another. On the one hand this similarity might make for a strong bond of empathy with the one child, but on the other hand could lead to behavior-based communication problems with the other. Stress will induce different communication issues among people with differing DISC profiles, regardless of whether the relationship is between parent and child, siblings, or among co-workers.

What if the parent’s DISC behavior differs from all the children? Imagine a High C father with a High D daughter and one son who is a high S and another who is a high I. The father values credibility, procedures and attention to detail, the daughter is bold and authoritative, one son is gregarious and demonstrative, the other is passive, but resistant to change. So what happens when each of these kids breaks their curfew? The father is irate because of the disobedience and disrespect for established rules, He’s perhaps overly critical of the excuses: well not in the daughter’s case because as a High D she offers no excuses – simply states what her objectives in staying out late were and has difficulty understanding why they are an issue. The High I son stayed out late to curry favor with his friends, he’s extremely apologetic and willing to make amends with his father, because that’s who he is in front of right now, but he is likely to bend to the peer pressure again should the occasion arise. The High S son on the other hand probably only stayed out past curfew because of some unusual stress or necessity – it’s not in his nature to break routine – his father’s frustration is only compounding an already distressed state.

Of course this is a hypothetical scenario, but the point is that for all of us, behavioral patterns can lead to very different perspectives on a given situation. Parents that are aware of this can provide guidance that is aligned with the child’s behavior instead of carrying an expectation based on the parent’s own DISC profile. By recognizing the daughter’s competitiveness and boldness, the one son’s political behavior, and the other’s tendency to be non-demonstrative, he will be on the path to attaining the insight to temper his initial over-critical response with one adapted to each child’s individual DISC style.

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Often when I give lectures or training classes I’ll ask the parents in the room, “for those of you with more than one kid, at what age did you realize they didn’t act the same?” Usually they laugh and say they realized in the first few months, some even say they noticed the difference before the younger child was even born. I tell them, “see… you’re already practitioners of behavioral style observation.”

If you’re a parent it’s only natural, you’re going to become out of necessity a keen observer of your children’s behavior. Day after day of close inspection and interaction are bound to define your reflexes based on behavioral expectations: you figure out that your daughter is very detail-oriented in the way she carefully arranges her doll collection, or you note that your youngest son always seems to be directing his friends as to which game they’re going to play today. Or another parent realizes that his daughter always wants the same peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch every day, while his son never cares because he always swaps his lunch because he seems to be friends with every kid in school. Mothers and fathers get to put in lots of hours observing and comparing, but what they may not have is the vocabulary to identify that the girl with the super-organized dolls is a high C, the boy who is setting the playtime goals is a high D, the girl who likes to stick to the same routine for lunch everyday is a high S, or that the boy who knows every kid in school is a high I. Yet vocabulary aside, the parents clearly understand the differences that each child expresses through his or her actions, but without the blueprint of a structured approach to understanding behavior as provided by DISC profiles, they are in a disadvantaged position when handling collisions of behavioral style.

When the High I boy with tons of friends takes his sister’s PB&J sandwich to trade with his buddy who said he likes peanut butter, he’s just following his impulsive behavioral pattern of trying to please and influence, not realizing that he may be creating an avalanche of stress for his sister, the High S, who is now very distraught to have the reassuring stability of her expected sandwich being unexpectedly replaced by her brother’s turkey on wheat. Further, if the parent is unaware of his or her own behavioral style they may fall into a biased reaction to the incident. If the mother is also a High I, she might be led by her behavioral disposition to take the son’s side, while the High S father might see the issue as stress-inducing his daughter does.

The parental dilemma grows as the kids get older and are exposed to an increasing number of influences and experiences that are outside of the parent’s sphere of observation. Expectations set by past patterns of behavior may be jarringly disrupted by the emergence of behavioral shifts so often seen during the teen years. Here again, the trained DISC behaviorist has an advantage in deciphering the puzzle of disruption due to inconsistent behavior. Proper DISC profiling examines and charts both natural and adapted behavioral profiles – shifting environments and peer dynamics are as likely to cause behavioral adaptations as any stressful office – understanding modifications of behavior and the gap between natural and adapted styles can give the experienced behavioral strategist data points for understanding that a typical parent wouldn’t have at their disposal.

On the other hand teenagers are just weird

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When you start talking about DISC assessments and DISC behavioral styles it is inevitable that you end up in the land of adjectives: The high D – Active, Direct, Forceful; the high I – Fast-Paced, Emotional, Impulsive; the high S – Agreeable, Cooperative, Friendly; and the high C- Thoughtful, Careful, Thorough. Add a little stress to the mix and some new adjectives from the DISC profile step to the front of the line: D – Impatient; I – Disorganized; S – Possessive; and C – Overly Critical. These words, when included in a DISC profile, are intended to be useful and cautionary – guides, if you will, for gaining insight into your own behaviors and the necessary data to intentionally adapt behavior for improved communication, team building and performance. Yet sometimes these words can be misused as an excuse, a convenient crutch to sidestep taking responsibility for the outcome of behavior. There is a world of difference in the statements “I’m a low C, so I should team with someone who can help me stay organized” and “I’m a low C, so don’t expect me to be organized.” That difference is in the attitude.

Understanding behavioral style via a DISC assessment is tremendously valuable, yet it is still an incomplete predictor of an individual’s impact on a team or success in a position. Going beyond the DISC profile by gauging awareness and attitudes provides vital insight into that individual’s effectiveness and willingness to change – especially when confronted with a behavior that is causing (or caused by) a negative issue. It can make the difference between a team full of “My way, or the highway” dysfunction or a team that embraces the platinum rule: behave unto others in the style that suits them, even if it isn’t the style that naturally comes to you. DISC assessments make you aware of your own behavioral tendencies so when you recognize the styles of others you can behave with intention: more productively and harmoniously.

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Art Schoeck was recently asked the following question via our Ask the Expert form:

** Is there a resource or tool that highlights jobs that match my disc profile? How can I learn at which jobs I would excel? **

Art’s answer:

The Career Planning Insights instrument is a wonderful user-friendly tool for identifying those jobs most compatible with one’s behavioral preferences (DISC). It consists of three online questionnaires – the first questionnaire is about you, the second is about your current (or most recent) job, and the third focuses on the job you’d like to have. The purpose is to match the behaviors you naturally exhibit with a job that utilizes those behaviors to optimize top performance.

A sample report can be viewed at: http://www.datadome.com/pdf/profiles/careerplanning.pdf

Also useful for career direction is the Workplace Motivators profile, describing your current motivational preferences (this is not a DISC tool). The purpose is to address your current real needs (passions and priorities) with the rewards (compensaion/benefits, work environment, ‘other’ benefits) offered by a job. For example, a person with a high score for “Utilitarian” (the need for money for its own sake, high priority of return on investment) should not consider most teaching positions as the low salaries all too common in that profession would make it unlikely for the Utilitarian needs to be met. On the other hand, someone with a high score in the area of “Social / Altruistic” might find that teaching satisfies the need to influence others.

View a sample report available at: http://www.datadome.com/pdf/profiles/WorkplaceMotivators.pdf

For more information and links to purchase these reports visit: http://www.datadome.com/productscart_careerinsights.php

What’s your question?

Data Dome’s resident expert is our founder, Art Schoeck. A member of TTI’s prestigious International Faculty, Art often receives questions through our Ask the Expert form. We try to answer questions here on this blog that are representative of common questions regarding DISC and other assessment tools.

Do you have a question about DISC? If so please submit it via the Ask the Expert form. Although it may not be possible to answer every question individually, we use the “Ask the Expert” category of this blog to answer the DISC-related questions most important to our readers.

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Teenagers and parents, sometimes they seem more like oil and water: What happens when a High C / Strong S mom tries to tell her High D / Strong I son that he can’t go to the mall with his friends because he hasn’t finished his homework yet? You might be able to guess if you’re familiar with DISC (it doesn’t have to be 4th of July to have fireworks) , but you had the advantage of knowing their dominant behavioral styles. Unfortunately, families seldom have access to that kind of information, or any tools-based approach to understanding family behavior and communication dynamics. Seldom that is, until now: Target Training International (TTI) and some sponsors have put together a unique, free program to assist family members to better understand themselves and each other.

TTI Family First is providing the Family Relationships report and debriefing process free-of-charge.

Learn about your family communication style and read recommendations on how to improve internal family communication. TTI founder, Bill Bonnstetter, has made it his life’s work to help people recognize their unlimited potential. He has enabled this free report and debriefing to help young adults communicate their talents and strengths in ways that their parents can understand and helps parents to recognize the behavior styles that can give clues to diffusing some of the stress in family communications.

To get started on the road to your family’s true potential visit http://ttifamilyfirst.com and then encourage the other members of your family to do the same.

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Art Schoeck was recently asked the following question via our Ask the Expert form:

** I have a client with significant differences between his natural and adapted styles. I asked him to discuss the stress this was causing him and he was surprised. He said he didn’t feel particularly stressed. He said that he accepts as a given that there are behaviors for work and behaviors for home and that he puts on the façade just as easily as he might put on different style clothing for different situations. Given the large gap between his natural and adapted behaviors, what is your opinion? Is he in denial? **

Art’s answer:

Sounds like he’s being strategic. If he picks up the right signals and is adjusting behavior only when he has to, it might not be for a sustained portion of the day, only bits and pieces. For an example, consider that many successful salespeople encounter clients and prospects with differing styles. They learn to fluidly adapt all day long to an array of different styles knowing that this is beneficial to improved communication, and therefore beneficial to reaching their sales goals. If they know how and when, they are only adapting for small periods. Since this adaptive behavior is intentional and not forced to be maintained for excessively lengthy periods it is not nearly as stressful as one might surmise from an initial comparison of the Natural and Adapted DISC graphs. The best assessment tools have evolved to be highly effective diagnostic aids however they cannot replace the important role a Certified Professional Behavioral Strategist plays in interpreting the results by first discussing and investigating the nuances of an individual’s situation.

What’s your question?

Data Dome’s resident expert is our founder, Art Schoeck. A member of TTI’s prestigious International Faculty, Art often receives questions through our Ask the Expert form. We try to answer questions here on this blog that are representative of common questions regarding DISC and other assessment tools.

Do you have a question about DISC? If so please submit it via the Ask the Expert form. Although it may not be possible to answer every question individually, we use the “Ask the Expert” category of this blog to answer the DISC-related questions most important to our readers.

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The sport of college basketball recently noted the passing of a legendary coach and highly esteemed teacher: John Wooden – a man who not only succeeded as a respected and winning coach, but one who also exhibited a different behavioral style than that which is stereotypically associated with college basketball coaches.

When one thinks of a big-time basketball coach many assume this will be a fiery and dominating personality, highly goal-oriented like a Mike Krzyzewski or the at times volatile Bobby Knight. Wooden, by contast, was described as “self-controlled” and “detail-oriented”. In the NBC Sports obituary Michael Ventre wrote that “Wooden’s attention to detail was almost as legendary as the Wizard of Westwood himself. He instructed his players how to put on their socks and shoes in order to cut down on the incidence of blisters.” Sounds like the adjectives associated with a High C, doesn’t it? In the same article he is described as being “humble, practical and unpretentious” – not the first adjectives that come to mind if one is assuming the stereotype of the High D coach.

While the sports world is saddened to say good bye to John Wooden we would like to thank this role-model for demonstrating that there are many paths to success and leadership and that the dominance of the high D isn’t the only behavioral style capable of achieving great results.

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Just a quick post to recommend an interesting article from the McKinsey Quarterly: “The case for behavioral strategy” (free registration required to access article). Authors Dan Lovallo and Olivier Sibony present a well-reasoned discussion of the impact of cognitive biases on effective corporate decision making. After first setting the stage by noting that most of the advances in the application of behavioral science to business have been in understanding how others behave – such as in marketing scenarios, here the issue is in how the leadership behaves in making high-quality decisions.

Perhaps most interesting is the discussion of some of the top biases impacting business decisions as spotlighted in the article’s companion pdf: “A language to discuss biases” It’s not hard to see reflections of DISC concepts in terminology such as “Stability biases”, “Action-oriented biases” or “Social biases”. I would recommend this article to any business leader interested in understanding the risks of gut-based decisions and motivated to improve overall quality of decisions by using behavioral understanding to adopt a process that builds-in counters to the most prevalent business biases.

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It’s festival season in Atlanta and over the weekend I indulged in one of my favorite treats of the outdoor food court: kettle corn. There is just something about fresh kettle corn that is magically addictive. The sweet and the salty playing off of each other in that perfect crunch. It’s not just one flavor, it is the balance of two strong notes that make the kettle corn such a sweet and savory symphony. It sort of reminds me of DISC.

DISC? What does DISC have to do with kettle corn? When we talk about DISC it is often our habit to explain things in the simplest term. We isolate each of the behavioral categories, the D, the I, the S and the C, and discuss each as if they existed in a vacuum as a shorthand for revealing the attributes and adjectives associated with each behavioral measure. It is often a necessary conceit as time and available space seldom allow for an article or chart to go into an analysis of every possible permutation and gradation in the DISC spectrum. Even when we’ve discussed the low-end of DISC scores (The Low Side of Stress Styles) we’ve simplified the discussion by treating each of the four categories as if they were the only one reflecting the behavior of an individual. However, just like kettle corn, real people are seldom just one flavor.

In the past we’ve discussed the importance of understanding your low scores as well as your highs (DISC: Get to know your low). It is also important to not just focus on your most dominant score (the one furthest from “the line” whether that is above or below), but also pay attention to what’s revealed in all four categories. It is not unusual for an assessment to reveal that not just one, but two or more areas are significant in understanding a complete behavioral profile.

What’s the salty to your sweet? Are you a high I with an almost as high S or high D + low I? If you want to get the full crunch out of your assessment it pays to understand the interplay of all the behavioral flavors. Now pass the kettle corn – I’m hungry for more!

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