The Assessment Experience: DiSC Classic vs. Everything DiSC
In the DiSC Classic assessment, participants are shown 28 boxes that contain four words each. In each box, they are asked to choose one that is most like them and one that is least like them (ipsative/forced-choice scale). Consequently, participants review a total of 112 words.
Example of Ipsative/Forced-Choice scale used in DiSC Classic assessments:
One of the original reasons for using the forced-choice measurement methodology is because Continue reading “The Assessment Experience: DiSC Classic vs. Everything DiSC” »
Collaboration Does Not Equal Consensus
In their article “Are You A Collaborative Leader?” (Harvard Business Review, July 2011) Herminia Ibarra and Morten Hansen define Collaborative Leadership as the “capacity to engage people and groups outside one’s formal control and inspire them to work toward common goals – despite difference in convictions, cultural values and operating norms.”
These authors differentiate a “Consensus-based” leadership style where all parties in a small group have equal authority, from the Collaborative style where the people leading the collaborative effort have clear authority to make final decisions. Their point is that Collaborative Leaders retain a strong role in directing teams. They maintain organizational agility by forming and disbanding teams as opportunities come and go. Collaborative leaders also pay close attention to the composition of the team and don’t hesitate to keep the team fresh by adding or changing players.
Using Everything DiSC for a Variety of Organizational Needs
This is the fifth installment of a seven-week series on the different ways that the DiSC® model can be measured and represented. We’re placing a particular emphasis on contrasting the new Everything DiSC® circular model with the DiSC Classic graph model, and examining the benefits of this new approach.
Today, we’ll look at the application potential of the new Everything DiSC circular model to different organizational needs.
DiSC has proven to be very powerful in giving people a language to discuss their differences. The model helps people not only understand those differences, but value them. In a more sophisticated marketplace, however, companies often want to take DiSC even farther. Organizations routinely use DiSC to train salespeople, managers, customer service agents, leaders, etc.
With the circular DiSC map, we are able to create an application layer for the DiSC model that helps participants
see the immediate relevance of DiSC to their field, such as sales or management. For instance, the DiSC circle to the right is taken from the Everything DiSC Sales Profile. The words around the circle describe the priorities of customers or salespeople with the different DiSC styles.
So, if we have a salesperson who tends toward the S style, he probably places a priority on appearing sincere, building trusting relationships, and providing dependable service. Continue reading “Using Everything DiSC for a Variety of Organizational Needs” »
How many D’s are there in the population?
We get a lot of questions about the distribution of DiSC styles in the population. “How many people have a primary D, I, S, or C style?” It’s an understandable question and a very simple one. 
Now, the answer to the question is also quite simple, but the explanation for that answer is very theoretical and, in my experience, almost always unsatisfying. One would think that we could estimate the number of D’s in the population the way we could estimate the number of males in the population. Unfortunately, we can’t.
Continue reading “How many D’s are there in the population?” »
Everything DiSC Circle versus DiSC Classic Graph: Which is more memorable?
This is the fourth installment of a seven-week series on the different ways that the DiSC® model can be measured and represented. We’re placing a particular emphasis on contrasting the new Everything DiSC® circular model with the DiSC Classic graph model, and examining the benefits of this new approach.
Today, we’ll examine the stickiness, or memorability, of the new Everything DiSC circular model, versus the DiSC Classic graph.
One of the reasons that the DiSC® model has been so successful over the years is because it gives people a simple, memorable way to understand themselves and those around them.
The DiSC profile could easily be designed to contain 20, 50, or even 100 different scales. And while such a profile might contain a lot of information, it would lose most of its practical usefulness. The complexity would keep people from internalizing the information. They would have trouble organizing it and remembering it. Consequently, they wouldn’t apply it.
Even though the line-graph representation of DiSC has proven to be incredibly powerful, the circular representation presents the DiSC model in a way that is even more intuitive and memorable without sacrificing the richness of information. Continue reading “Everything DiSC Circle versus DiSC Classic Graph: Which is more memorable?” »
DiSC styles and Age
I often get asked questions about DiSC® and age. This usually takes one of two different forms.
1) Do people’s DiSC styles change as they get older? or 2) Are there differences among generations on DiSC style?
Now, with our current data we don’t have the ability to determine if age differences are related to developmental or generational effects, but we can look to see if there are age related differences in general. And the short answer is… Continue reading “DiSC styles and Age” »
Integration of the Four DiSC Styles in Everything DiSC
This is the third installment of a seven-week series on the different ways that the DiSC® model can be measured and represented. We’re placing a particular emphasis on contrasting the new Everything DiSC® circular model with the DiSC Classic graph model, and examining the benefits of this new approach.
Today, we’ll look at how the four separate DiSC styles are integrated in the new Everything DiSC circular model, contrasted with how the styles are represented in the DiSC Classic graph.
Instead of presenting the four DiSC styles as four separate traits, as in the DiSC Classic grap
h seen to the left, the Everything DiSC circular model on the righ shows the true continuous nature of DiSC. Since the four DiSC styles do not live in isolation, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
For instance, there is a meaningful difference between someone who has a pure D style and someone who has a DI style. In each case, the D characteristics express themselves differently. �
Marston recognized this fact when he compared the DiSC circle to the color wheel, where colors flow into each other in a smooth, continuous fashion. The combination of red and blue form the color purple, which has its own unique properties separate from either red or blue.
In the DiSC Classic assessment, the Classical Patterns are used to capture the integrated, interactive nature of the four styles. For instance, the Inspirational Pattern (above left) describes someone who is high in both the D and i styles and how these two styles uniquely combine to form the pattern. The circular representation of DiSC presents this integration, however, in a simple, visual manner (above right).
Participants can clearly see how the different styles blend into one another and where they fit within that blend.
How do you see the integration of the four DiSC styles in DiSC Classic versus Everything DiSC?
Next Friday: Everything DiSC Circular Model vs. DiSC Classic Graph Model: Which is more memorable?
Patience is a Leadership Virtue
New York Times writer Adam Bryant interviewed Emerson’s Chief Marketing Officer Kathy Button Bell for the July 3rd “Corner Office” column:
Bryant: “When you think back over your leadership and management style, how would you say it’s evolved?”
Bell: “I am much more patient — a hundred times more than I was. I also prioritize much better, which comes out of patience. I think patience, by far, teaches you what to do.”
“Patience” is not a characteristic that comes to mind when we imagine a hard-charging business executive, but in fact our research for The 8 Dimensions of Leadership revealed that most effective leaders have learned the importance creating a stable, predictable environment inside their organizations. Continue reading “Patience is a Leadership Virtue” »
Everything DiSC, Stress, and Adaptation
Everyone has a story about a stressful work situation, right? Stressful situations are often unavoidable in workplace environments. Learning to adapt to the stress can result in more successful interactions, and a more effective workplace. For years, consultants, coaches, and facilitators have used DiSC® to help people recognize the occasional need to adapt their DiSC style to people or situations around them.
As mentioned in last Friday’s post, the map in the Everything DiSC® profiles uses shading to help people understand the areas where they might have difficulty stretching.
For example, the map to the right shows a manager who tends heavily toward the C style. Using the map, she can quickly
see how certain situations require her to stretch beyond her natural tendencies. She can visually understand that when she needs to comfort a direct report who is upset or frustrated, she’ll probably need to project more acceptance and warmth than is naturally her style. Using the shading, she can also see that this is most likely out of her comfort zone, and she will find it stressful if she has to do this kind of activity on a regular basis.
If, on the other hand, when this same manager is giving a board presentation to a group of direct, results-oriented executives, she can see that a different type of adaptation is necessary. Continue reading “Everything DiSC, Stress, and Adaptation” »
