DataDome Blog

It’s Labor Day on Monday so we thought we’d put the World According to DISC lens on a family preparing for their annual cookout:

High D, Dad, is on a mission to make this the best Labor Day ever! He wants to throw a big cookout so he can show-off the big gas grill he is going to buy at a big Labor Day sale using the big bonus he got for blowing away his numbers last quarter. He hit his goal and then some and he’s ready to celebrate, so nothing is going to stand in the way of his long-weekend projects: mow the lawn, sweep the driveway, finish the deck, buy the grill, conquer the cookout.

High I, Mom, is right on board, now that all of her friend’s are back from their summer vacations she’s been anxious to get energized with a big gathering. A Labor Day cookout is the perfect excuse to bask in the approval of friends and neighbors. She’s trying to remember everyone’s favorite side dishes, desserts and drinks so that everyone will talk about what a wonderful time they had at the party. Last year someone wanted pickles and she didn’t have any so sent her daughter to the store in the middle of the party so the guest wouldn’t be disappointed.

High S, Daughter, is happy too – they do a cookout every year and in her mind it is a sacred family tradition. Sure it is a break from the normal routine, but she’s looking forward to helping her dad sweep the driveway and mom prepare the hamburgers, potato salad and special family recipe cole slaw like they do each year for the cookout. She’s a little concerned though about her dad getting a new grill – the old charcoal one always worked so reliably…

High C, Son, is indifferent about the occasion, but adamant that if you’re going to do a Labor Day cookout then you should do it right. Despite his mom’s suggestions that they get chicken to put on the grill because her friend said it was much healthier for a cookout, he insists that hamburgers are the proper choice due to their faster cooking time. An important consideration, he continues, because after studying the assembly instructions for the grill his dad plans to buy he estimates that it will take 3 hours and 20 minutes to complete the assembly and that the extra cooking time for the chicken would risk delaying serving the guests at an appropriate time. He shows his mom his proposed timetable for the day and she has little choice, but to agree.

So there you have it a family of disparate DISC styles coming together in perfect harmony to prepare for a traditional Labor Day cookout. We at Data Dome hope that you enjoy these glimpses into the lighter side of DISC and that you and yours enjoy a happy and safe holiday, and don’t forget the pickles!

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There’s nothing like a summer garage sale to clear the clutter and pocket a little cash before the back to school season is in full swing. What kind of insight can we glean when we look at preparations for this common activity through the lens of DISC behaviors?

It’s no surprise with her high D DISC profile that Dianne has driven her family toward a big goal to accomplish this weekend: empty out the garage and the basement – it’s garage sale time! She’s got the whole family mobilized and she’s already thinking about the new sofa she’s going to buy with all the proceeds.

Her husband Stan, the high S, is a bit conflicted, he agrees it should be a family project, but he likes the comfort of the old sofa. In fact he’s been dragging his feet all week as Dianne has been pushing her agenda. Every item she wants to get rid of he feels nostalgic about, but since his wife and his kids all want to do this he doesn’t want to make waves.

A DISC assessment of Dianne and Stan’s daughter, Catherine, would definitely reveal her high C DISC style. She’s almost as excited about the garage sale as her mom – she always been agitated by her brother’s chaos and clutter and sees the sale as her big chance to restore order. She’s been diligently preparing an inventory list and price tags, and is giving instructions to her brother on how to properly record each sale so there is no confusion about procedure.

Ian, Catherine’s brother, has a high I DISC behavioral style, and he’s also been looking forward to the garage sale. He’s told all of his friends to come over, that it is going to be the best garage sale ever, and he is looking forward to seeing all the neighbors on Saturday – he’s certain it will be just like a big block party.

So how will the big sale go? Will high D Dianne drive the sales or drive her family crazy? Will high S Stan, surrender his favorite sweater to the cause or will he sneak it back off the table and into the drawer where he’s always kept it? Will high C Catherine’s site plan for optimal layout of the driveway be adhered too? Will she arrange the old bicycles by size, color, or number of gears? Will high I Ian’s gregarious nature help keep the buyer’s entertained, or will he disappear when his friends decide to go to the mall? What about rain? Find out more in our next installment of World According to DISC, where the behavior is predictable, but the plot lines are full of surprises….

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Last week the entertainment industry was surprised by the announcement that Ellen DeGeneres was leaving American Idol after being part of just one season on the highly popular show. So what’s behind this move? Well if we look at it from the vantage point of the World According to DISC it becomes clear that we are seeing some classic High I behavior:

DeGeneres was quoted in Variety as saying, “I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting, and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings.” This is a common sentiment for those whose DISC assessment reveals a high measure in the Influence (or simply, “I“) category. High I‘s tend to avoid social rejection – they don’t like to make people feel uncomfortable nor do they like to feel socially uncomfortable themselves. Some of the negative attitudes and harshness associated with the show’s critiques would cause stress for someone with an I-oriented DISC profile as Ellen appears to display.

In the same article Ellen DeGeneres is also quoted on how she left things with the show’s producers, “I told them I wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next.” Again this fits right into familiar High I territory – there is a strong impulse for the High DISC style to avoid being seen as “the bad guy,” they would prefer to part on good terms and do what they can to ensure that they will continue to be well thought of even in a situation such as quitting.

It is not hard to glance at our DISC adjective chart to see words under the “I” column that are commonly associated with Ellen, such as: gregarious, pleaser, warm, enthusiastic and magnetic. However, much as we would love to have Ellen DeGeneres visit Data Dome and take one of our DISC assessments, these World According To DISC observations made here are based solely on her general media presence and some of her quotes in the entertainment press.

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