DataDome Blog

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

Okay, make that 34 years ago in this galaxy right here… an iconic character was introduced to the world and he instantly became one of the most recognized and feared (and lampooned) villains in history. I’m of course talking about none other than Darth Vader.

In the original movie, a.k.a. Episode IV: A New Hope, the Lord of the Sith emerges as a character of pure menace, and also one of pure initiative. certainly Vader is not past using a little force, or even The Force, to get things done. Hmmm, where have we heard that sort of description before? Sounds a little like a DISC behavioral style, doesn’t it?

Forceful, decisive, goal-oriented, intimidating… where can we find these terms grouped together? On the DISC adjective chart, of course. Just look in the column marked High D. Yes Lord Vader is a High D – perhaps the king of the D’s. Want some examples:

Forceful – how about the opening scene where his ship overtakes and boards the rebel vessel? Or when he lifts one of the rebels off the ground with one hand to question him?

Decisive – Vader never hesitates when faced with a decision. From field promotions (and throat-crushing demotions) to dispatching the Emperor himself, Darth has never been one to shy away from making the tough calls.

Goal-oriented – When your replacement Death Star is falling behind in production who do you call? Emperor Palpatine knows who the galaxy’s top fixer is – good ol’ Darth is just the fellow to put things back on schedule.

Intimidating – 6’6″ tall, known to choke people to death for failure – even when they’re not on the same starship, a history of violent rages (we’re not saying that a high D means you’re violent, but D’s can get angry when they don’t get their way), handy with a light saber and one of the best fighter pilots in the galaxy. If that’s not enough to intimidate you then you’ve always got the creepy helmet and raspy aqualung breathing to keep you shaking in your boots. No, I don’t think that anyone liked to bring our Vader any bad news.

But even Darth Vader, Big D, that he may be, was not one dimensional in his behavior. Like all of us, he exhibited a range of behaviors that could have been charted on a DISC graph had the Empire had access to some quality DISC assessments. (Ever notice the resemblance between a DISC Wheel and an Imperial chart?)

So what would we find if we looked beyond Darth Vader’s D? Well without doubt a low I: When not leading a boarding party or giving orders he tended to stay in self-imposed isolation in his hyperbaric chamber. There is also that small incident of slaughtering an entire village of Sand People.

What about Vader’s C? He displayed many high C characteristics: he was a strict disciplinarian, demanded rigid adherence to the chain of command, and as the Emperor’s right hand man (even if that hand was artificial) was on a mission to preserve peace and order throughout the galaxy. On the other hand, Darth Vader was not shown to be a micro-manager as are many high C’s. He would set goals and timetables, and although he dealt really harshly with failure, he did give room for the admirals beneath him to take their own initiative and make their own mistakes. As a youth, while still known as Anakin, Darth bridled against the restrictions and discipline of the Jedi Council – something a high C wouldn’t do unless they had their own set of rules which they felt were superior. The times when Anakin breaks the rules he is reacting chaotically and emotionally, not methodically following an alternate rule set. Chances are the adult Darth Vader’s C would measure above the line, but not particularly high.

Finally, what about Vader’s S? There is some real tension here. Darth Vader exhibits some particularly High S tendencies – a reluctance to change or accept change, a tendency to suppress expression – suppress that is until it boils over in uncontrolled rage. He is generally unimpressed with new technology, trusting more in the old ways of the Force, “Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed….” Then there is also that “sad devotion to that ancient religion…” When the ways of the Dark Side of the force are questioned he lashes out and intones “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Few things succeed at provoking a strong response from a High S like Darth quite like questioning his world view.

Some people might be confused by the High D also exhibiting a High S, but as discussed previously in our post on Me-Me conflicts, it is important to keep in mind that the opposite of a High D is a Low D, not a High S.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this installment in our ongoing World According to DISC series, and no matter what corner of the galaxy you’re exploring, may the Force (and the DISC) be with you.

A recent DISC question from a reader arrived via our Ask the Expert form:

** I know 2 very different managers with exactly the same red score of about 45/100. One is angry and impatient yet lacks ambition, motivation and drive. The other one is highly driven but cool, v. hard to anger. So my question is, based on the fact that DISC has an algorithm, can we infer a high “drive” / motivation score for someone with a medium red score who just doesn’t get angry ? **

Art’s answer:
I want to first take this opportunity to discuss the format of this question before exploring an answer:

We often get questions like this, which are unfortunately vague regarding some of the details needed to provide a precise answer. The reader may not be aware if they have only been exposed to one version of DISC that there are in fact many publishers of DISC assessments – and not all of them present information the same way. This question refers to a specific red score of 45/100, but does not specify which DISC system they are using, nor which DISC category is represented by the color red. Although the some DISC publishers use the colors red, green, blue and yellow they don’t all use that palette – some use brown, red, blue and yellow, and some DISC consultants impose their own color branding on the DISC categories. Thus red may represent I in one company’s assessment report, but it represents D in another. Likewise, some DISC reporting algorithms only able to generate a dozen or so reports based on variations of the behavioral scores of an individual while other DISC systems can assign an individual to one of literally hundreds of report variations. For more information on some of the differences in DISC systems I recommend our article Good DISC vs. Bad DISC.

When submitting a question through our Ask the Expert form it will help if you can provide the following information along with your question:

• The name of the DISC publisher who produced your assessment
• The DISC distributor or consulting company who administered the assessment
• If you are asking about a specific profile please provide the complete score in all four areas as well as Natural and Adapted scores if provided.

Following these guidelines will make it possible to provide more accurate answers to your queries.

Now, on to the answer…
Regardless of the vagueness of the question that was submitted, there is a point that can be made based on information inferred from the narrative provided by the asker:

In the description of the two managers there are a couple of words used that give clues to information that was left out of the question – the words are “angry” describing the first manager and “highly driven” describing the second one. Although there isn’t really enough information here to know for certain, on the surface it appears that both managers have a strong D, but they are expressing that D in different ways.

If you are using a DISC publisher that can only provide a few possible reporting variations, you are going to get an over-generalized report. It will be stretched over too wide a variety of DISC combinations. For instance, there is a big difference between a very high D with a low C – someone with the force of a runaway train with no tracks (or rules) to guide that force – and a very high D with a high C – a far more controlled individual who is deliberate and less likely to show anger, etc.). Likewise, a very high D with a low S is far less patient and much quicker to anger than a high D with a high S who tends to suppress anger (until it comes to an explosive head). So, a DISC interpretation with fewer report variations is not going to give you as detailed an analysis as one whose algorithms produce many report variations, in fact the fewer the reports a system provides the higher likelihood of inaccurate results.

The other factor that is important to consider when two people share similar scores in one or more areas, but exhibit divergent behaviors, is what I call “Awareness & Attitude”. Is the high D aware of how they come across, and what is their attitude towards adjusting or adapting? Emotional intelligence profiles among other approaches address this factor, and it is very important in analyzing how we apply ourselves behaviorally. For example, consider the difference between a high D that wants everyone to change for them (a “my way or the highway” person) vs. a high D that realizes how counterproductive their high D can be in a team setting, and is willing to adapt/adjust to other styles to be more collaborative and less dictatorial.

A DISC report in itself reveals behavioral tendencies, not necessarily how one is applying those tendencies. And the more intense their tendencies are, the more important it is to understand their “Awareness and Attitude”.

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.

A reader from the healthcare arena recently used our Ask the Expert form to ask:

** What does it mean if you have a Naturally high S, but your Adapted S is significantly lower? **

Art’s answer:

If you are seeing a DISC report with a Natural S that is high and an Adapted S that is much lower then you are actually seeing one of the most common behavioral adjustments in corporate America today. In the DISC spectrum the S reflects our preferences for different paces. When the S factor drops to a strong degree, it typically means the pace you’re encountering is greatly increased, that the variety of the work you are doing has increased (juggling lots of assignments at one time), or possibly your priorities are changing rapidly.

A person with a high Natural S likes to know what to expect – they are more comfortable knowing what’s going to happen well in advance. But if you are responding to the environment with a low Adapted S then it sounds like you might not be able to predict what you’ll be working on from one moment to the next, or have so many things on your plate, you may not be getting the closure you like. I often recommend those making this adjustment either get a bigger staff or do their best to prioritize their projects and takes some things off their plate. This isn’t always easy, particularly in today’s job climate where so many people are being asked to shoulder larger burdens and compensate for the missing productivity of people who have been let go, but not replaced, due to economic constraints. However, forcing someone to sustain an Adapted style that is drastically different from their Natural style can cause severe stress and loss of morale, especially if the person in question is pushed into this state frequently and for long periods of time. Frustration and resentment can increase in these situations.

It is also important to remember that the issue isn’t as much the direction of change, as it is the magnitude of change and the amount of time spent in the Adapted state. We often see executives with lower Natural S scores, who become frustrated and restless if they find themselves in a situation that causes them to have a higher Adapted S. Often an executive in this situation will make a move and quit the position as soon as they are able to because boredom is generally the least tolerable adapted state.

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.

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

** What do you mean by the Me-Me Conflict? Could you flesh that out a little? **

Art’s answer:

There are certain DISC behavioral styles that pose a “Me-Me” conflict, meaning there exists internal incompatibilities between behaviors. The Me-Me conflicts occur when an individual displays behaviors that are at odds with each other, that interfere with intended outcomes or reframe the behavioral dynamics due to the combination of conflicting behaviors.

To illustrate this idea let’s examine some scenarios:

An individual who wants to like people (DISC profile = high I) and looks at others with warmth and emotion, yet has high standards with which she judges things, data, and… people (DISC style = core C). So she wants to be liked and wants to like others, but she holds others to high standards, which may relegate her associates to those with high standards for instance she may date only those who pass her strict checklist of criteria. Here we see the Me-Me conflict in the competition of the core C behavior with the drive of the high I behavior. However, as in the dating example mentioned, the result might not be one behavior preventing the other, but both behaviors combining, hence the C-driven checklist criteria applied to the I-driven dating.

An individual may have a sense or urgency to get immediate results (DISC style = core D) while at the same time desire perfection (DISC profile = high C), which takes time to achieve. They constantly have internal conflict of rushing to complete, which can increase the likelihood of infractions or errors, vs slowing the pace down adequately to perform in an error-free compliant manner. The high D wants results and action now, which is in conflict with the high C behavior of making sure things are done in adherence to the standard of perfection.

One more example, although there are many more Me-Me conflict variations, can be seen with people who look at things, data, and products in an emotional way, yet look at people logically and analytically. The may buy things based on their emotions, yet look at others with skepticism and a “prove it to me” attitude. Changing situational dynamics can reframe the conflict.

Sometimes people are confused by the mention of Me-Me conflicts in part due to the explanation that accompanies the DISC Success Insights Wheel in some reports. The wheel will sometimes have the word “Cross” on it along with arrows pointing to spots on the wheel (see this post for a deeper look at the Success Insights Wheel) this can indicate the potential presence of a Me-Me conflict, because we are seeing three of the four DISC factors above the line with the individual’s core (or most prominent) DISC factor and the factor that is directly across from it on the wheel constituting two of those three factors that are above the line. The confusion can come from the use of the word “opposite” which in the Success Insights Wheel’s explanation is meant to refer to the style which is on the opposite side of the wheel, however this is not actually an opposite of the DISC style: D and S are across from each other on the wheel, as are I and C, but these are not opposite behaviors. The opposite behavior of a high D is not a high S, it is a low D. Likewise the opposite of a high I is a low I, etc. There can be some similarities between a low D and a high S but the behavioral basis is different.

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.

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.

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.

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

** I recently completed a DISC assessment that I found to be very insightful; however, on the Success Insights Wheel my Adapted Behavior was “non-placeable.” My Adapted Behavior was just above the line in all categories. Other than telling me that it is “rare,” my assessment administrator didn’t have any further insight. Can you help me understand this? I would love to know why my Adapted Behavior is “non-placeable.” **

Art’s answer:

When all points are above the line, it usually indicates that an individual, at the time of completing the assessment questionnaire, feels a need or desire to act as “everything to everybody”. That is, the individual’s behavior is adapting to an elevated level across all DISC categories. In essence, they are trying to be all of the descriptors around the wheel at the same time. This indicates a lot of pressure and may stem from a temporary situation or role being played. That is why it is “Non-placable”.

This result with adapted marks being all “north of the border” is not as rare as it once was. Many organizations are trying to make do with less people: With fewer employees doing the work of what used to be many more, they are required to cover more ground, and so we are seeing more shift into this adapted behavior of actually trying to be everything to everybody. This is also appearing amongst candidates during the job application process – as the job hunt and economic stresses linger on, some candidates begin to feel desperate and express that via a willingness to adapt behavior in this all things to all people manner. When encountered it is often necessary to apply further diagnostics to better understand the situation and the impact on behavioral style.

In a workplace scenario, if an individual’s Success Insights Wheel showed adaptive behavior that was above the line on all categories, a worthwhile next step would be to review the behavioral job description to determine if the subject and the supervisor agree on the role the individual should be playing and the commensurate behavioral expectations. This would involve a customized and personal interaction facilitated by a Certified Professional Behavioral Strategist.

What’s your question?

Data Dome founder and member of TTI’s prestigious International Faculty, Art Schoeck, 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 will be using the “Ask the Expert” category of this blog to answer the DISC-related questions most important to our readers.

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

“On the page that describes the two DISC charts, why are both the most (Adaptive) and least (Natural) scores presented? With today’s culture it seems to me that Most and Least really do not apply, especially with many people working from home, and other cultural issues blurring the line between home and work. Wouldn’t it be less confusing if only one score was presented?”

Art’s answer:

Actually for the very reasons you state it is more vital than ever to examine what adjustments individuals are making to survive/excel in this environment.

Although the two graphs may at first seem like a lot of information to take in, once you get comfortable reading the graphs you realize how useful they are in understanding any changes in behavior that are being caused by the demands of the environment – critical observations that provide important insights into everything from job placement and team fit to strategies for communication and remediation of undesirable behaviors.

These are hectic times that have changed the boundaries of the workplace, but working from home is still work and as such can require activities and modes of communication that are not necessarily part of our natural style. Analyzing our adaptive behaviors is required to see if the person assessed is adjusting as efficiently and appropriately as necessary to be successful, especially if the person does not have a boss and is having to self-manage. These critical comparisons could be severely hindered without the handy reference of both Adaptive and Natural behavioral profiles.

What’s your question?

Data Dome founder, Art Schoeck, 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.

A training manager recently asked the following question via our Ask the Expert form:

“I have some questions about the Employee-Manager profile version. For some reason, I have been receiving more and more questions about the Circle Graph on the back…must be having more C’s in the classes lately! At any rate, I want to know what the numbers mean around and inside the circle, as well as to have a better explanation of what the circle graph even means. Right now, I tell the participants that the closer together their star and their dot are on the circle graph, the less they are having to adapt/change between their natural and their adapted style.”

Art’s answer:

The Success Insights Wheel can be an intimidating diagram the first time you see it. The Style Insights assessment generates 384 different graphs and the Wheel showcases 60 of them (48 basic graphs with 12 exceptions).  The quadrant in which the graph appears is determined by the assessment taker’s individual high factor. To understand the Wheel it is important to identify its eight different spokes, which are:

• Relater Core I,S
• Supporter Core S
• Coordinator Core S,C
• Analyzer Core C
• Implementor Core D,C
• Conductor Core D
• Persuader Core D,I
• Promoter Core I

Each person has a Natural Style, Adapted Style and a preferred Work Environment. The Success Insights Wheel uses a star to indicate the subject’s adapted style and a circle to mark the natural style, so yes, if the circle and star are close together then the Natural and Adapted styles are closely aligned.

In addition, when profiling a team, the DISC practitioner can see the team’s behavioral composition and potential conflicts at a glance with the Wheel.

The word Cross or Flex often appear at the bottom of the Wheel Page. The definitions are as follows:

Cross: Two or three factors above the line, with the core factor’s opposite also above the line. This means that the person potentially has some type of Me-Me conflict. Numbers 57, 58, 59 & 60 are examples of potential Me-Me conflicts.

Flex: Three factors above the line, with the core factor’s opposite below the line. This means that the person is adaptable.

What’s your question?

Data Dome founder, Art Schoeck, 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.

I just wanted to take a few moments to tell you about something new that we’re just getting started here at Data Dome.  In an effort to add more interactivity to this website and to answer the most pressing questions that you have about DISC we’ve put together an “Ask the Expert” form for this site.

Whether you want to know something general about DISC behavioral styles or something particular about a specific assessment tool we want to know what’s on your mind.  It is my hope that by getting your questions directly, we as a company will be able to provide the information you need to continue to grow in your knowledge of DISC and your ability to use it to help your organizations to thrive.

Although it may not be possible to answer every question individually, we will be using the “Ask the Expert” category of this blog to answer the questions most important to you.  Sometimes we’ll write a post, other times we may use audio, video or slide shows to help you understand the answers. As founder of Data Dome my commitment is to provide the best available information on behavioral styles and assessments.  I greatly appreciate your assistance in this effort and I look forward to reading the questions you submit.

~ Arthur Schoeck

President and Founder

Data Dome, Inc.