DataDome Blog

Just a quick post to announce that we have changed the dates for the February session of our Advanced DISC Certification workshop.

The February dates have changed from the 19th & 20th to the 21st & 22nd. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. The January dates remain the same.

Bookmark It

It’s that gift-giving time of year again, and a great time to use the insights provided by DISC to help you choose the perfect books as gifts for the people on your list. Show your appreciation and support with a book that can help a co-worker or employee to improve in key areas to communicate better and raise their team’s productivity. Give your spouse the knowledge and tools to improve their performance and reduce their stress by giving a book that directly addresses specific areas targeted for improvement.

We at Data Dome have organized a selection of practical, targeted books and grouped them according to the specific skills and behaviors they were written to address. We have a section for development-oriented books as well as an entire selection just for addressing sales skills and behaviors.

To find just the right book for your friend, spouse, co-worker, employee, or even yourself, just visit the Data Dome Bookstore. We’ve organized an extensive list of recommended readings based on the many varieties of report results that are provided by our best assessment tools. You will find books on Coaching and Development – both for Personal Development and Team Development, as well as a book list for Sales Skills and Knowledge. Simply go to either page and look for the link to the section that fits the diagnosis or area of improvement that is the best match for the area the recipient wants to improve. For example, in the Sales section we have recommendations for First Meetings/First Impressions, Overcoming Objections, Prospecting/ Pre-Qualifying, Closing and much more. Or venture into the Development section where you’ll find links to recommendations for topics as diverse as Low Assertiveness, High Self-Control, Dislike for Structure, or Sparking Creativity – in fact, our book recommendations cover the spectrum of Working, Relating, Thinking and Decision-Making.

All transactions are made through our associate account with Amazon so your buying experience and delivery options are safe, secure and reliable.

These books and our assessment tools are a valuable resource for coaching and mentoring, as well as for personal development. We at Data Dome wish you and yours a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season and a New Year filled with growth and improved productivity and communication.

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

In his upcoming book on DISC practice, The World According to DISC, Arthur G. Schoeck, founder and CEO of Data Dome, Inc., offers answers to the question, “Are all DISC tools created equal?”

All DISC behavioral assessments and related tools have their roots in the work of Dr. William Moulton Marston and therefore share a common foundation. Most DISC systems in use today are provided by a handful of companies, DISC publishers, whose businesses cultivate certified DISC experts who then resell the assessment tools to corporations for use in consultative work on various people problems faced by organizations. Despite the shared origin and similarities of business models it is an uneven field in regards to quality of assessments and reports as well as training and certification of practitioners. In short, although all DISC shares common roots and principles, no, not all DISC is created equal.

The Basics
To understand what makes some tools better than others, let’s review some basics. DISC is based on four behavioral factors: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance. A person may score high or low in each of these four areas. The high scores tend to get the most attention, but good DISC practice recognizes that an intense low score is just as indicative of behavioral traits as is an equally intense high score.

Understanding Intensity and Precision
What DISC tools measure the intensity of each of the four behaviors and then correlate the results with a corresponding report. Some DISC systems provide for more gradations in the intensity in each category, some provide a larger number of report variations – and the range of this number of reports is surprisingly broad: some DISC publishers provide tools capable of generating as few as 12 reports, while one offers tools that match behaviors to hundreds of possible profile reports.

Even Great Tools Need Skillful Operators
People typically exhibit greater intensity in one of the four DISC areas, however it is a mistake to ignore the measures in the other three categories. It is also a mistake to oversimplify the process: Using a refined DISC system with hundreds of report variations still requires the facilitator to be skilled in properly debriefing and interviewing the participant to assure accuracy in the information provided. Even a good DISC system will yield mediocre results if the DISC practitioner is simply taking the report at face value without verifying accuracy with the participant.

Simplification and Vagueness
There are incentives for DISC publishers to pursue systems that involve a smaller number of different reports. Less variations to manage means training is easier, but simplification brings vagueness. Using a tool that can only categorize to a dozen or so reports encourages vagueness similar to a newspaper horoscope – it may provide answers that on the surface seem satisfactory, but in the end don’t hold up well in terms of providing practical, actionable insights.

Establishing Context for Better Results
DISC training to be effective must stress objectivity in its application. In many cases simply identifying the DISC profile of a given subject is not enough; measuring and understanding the behavioral context that predicts success for a given role or application is also needed. Too often a manager’s personal biases (or a consultant’s) will color the decision and favor either behavioral attributes which are similar to their own, or conform to some (false) idealized profile, which may have little to do with the actual behavioral patterns needed to succeed in a specific job.

Going Natural, or the Importance of Adapted Behavior
Natural behavior can be thought of as an individual’s default style, whereas Adapted behavior is the behavior they exhibit in response to the environment or workplace. Some DISC publishers offer reports that merge this information into a single approximate diagram. Others ignore the difference altogether and simply present a single graph, yet large shifts between a person’s Natural and Adapted behavior styles can indicate stresses, energy drain and anxiety caused by something in the work situation. Since the Natural style typically changes little over time and the Adapted style is very responsive to situational changes these are often important clues to diagnosing problems and recommending solutions. Bad DISC systems offer broad brush reports that appear less complex because merged data means fewer diagrams, but these fail to provide effective actionable data.

For the full Good DISC vs. Bad DISC article and a list of questions you should ask before selecting a DISC provider, visit
http://datadome.com/res_wp_gooddiscbaddisc.php

Bookmark It