DataDome Blog

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Sometimes around the office we find that people are “reaching their limit” or “at the breaking point”, but we don’t know why or how things got so out of control. Understanding the impact of various situations and how they relate to differing behavioral styles can help you to better understand your coworkers and perhaps recognize and avoid repeating patterns that in the past were inadvertently causing stress levels to rise.

Previously, as part of our “World According to DISC” series we discussed ways in which one can “stress out” a classic High D, High I, High S and High C (The World According to DISC™: How We Stress Someone Out in Style). But what if someone’s most telling category is one in which they score significantly low instead of high?

How to stress out a Low D:
Tell them that they have to “step up and take the reins”. Put them in charge of a team. Let them know that everyone is counting on them to the lead the way.

How to stress out a Low I:
Ask them to cheer up a co-worker or plan an office party. Give them a big enthusiastic pep talk. Give them projects that involve lots of team interaction. Ask them to drum up enthusiasm for a new initiative among the staff.

How to stress out a Low S:
Force them to work a highly repetitive task. Ask them to work a rigid checklist of activity. Make them wait for extended periods. Demand multiple layers of process and approval for very action.

How to stress out a Low C:
Put them on a quality initiative. Tell them that every fact must be rigorously checked and documented. Ask them to provide detailed annotations. Request that they adhere strictly to the facts and avoid injecting opinion.

Behave Responsibly
We certainly don’t advocate setting out to “stress out” your coworkers, but what we hope is that you will find these examples helpful in recognizing that sometimes, without meaning to, we can say or suggest the wrong thing in the wrong way and end up adding significantly to our coworker’s stress levels.

DISC profiles are powerful allies in learning how to adjust your communication and management style to meet the needs of your employees. Without taking the time to learn the styles and how best to communicate to each, it is too easy to find yourself bringing anxiety and stress when you thought you were bringing solutions.

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.

Originally broadcast in 2007, Art Schoeck, founder and CEO of Data Dome, Inc., was interviewed by Jeff Davis on Business Radio 1160′s “Atlanta’s Business,” a half-hour show that focuses on the movers and shakers of Atlanta’s business community.

Host Jeff Davis and Schoeck discussed the topic “The Three Worst Hiring Mistakes and How to Avoid Them” during the show that aired in early April. Schoeck is an expert on employee assessments and behavioral style strategies for the workplace.

Originally aired in 2007, this podcast features our founder, Art Schoeck, interviewed by Jeff Davis on “Atlanta’s Business.” for Business Radio 1160, WCFO, JW Broadcasting.

Art discusses behavioral style assessments and their usefulness in the workplace with host, Jeff Davis.