Over the past few articles we’ve been looking at the DISC model and I’ve walked you through the elements of each DISC quadrant. This has put you in a position to determine the order of your DISC profile. Now remember, your profile is an insight and not a diagnosis. In many ways an understanding of the model, and a personal reflection on your operating style, is the most important outcome.
That said I could spend days working through the variety of insights and benefits that we can take from the DISC model. Time and space prevent this so I will concentrate on what I see as the main benefits. Keep in mind the caveats I mentioned at the outset, we are a mix of all quadrants, and each quadrant represents a spectrum of behaviours, so the further we dig the more detailed things get.
In terms of your personal profile the first stage is to determine the order of the quadrants, and we could stop there. However, if you want to achieve a little more detail you could rate each quadrant on scale of 1-10, and that will help create a bar chart like the one below.
This is my profile and as you can see I have a very dominant colour, which is relatively unusual. Only 5% of people have a single high colour. Most have two colours that are high and close, which helps explain why you might be stuck between 2 colours. If you want to gain a little more personal insight you could do this exercise with a close friend as they might help to identify both the order and strength of your profile.
There is no good or bad, right or wrong in this. What we are aiming for is a greater understanding of ourselves. When we have a fairly accurate profile it supports us to understand why some situations feel comfortable and others make us feel uneasy. It sheds light on why some tasks and environments are easy for us to complete and operate in, and why in others we struggle. So how can we use this? Well, if you can identify why something is a challenge for you (and have an insight into why) then you can prepare yourself. My lowest operating style is blue, so I sometimes struggle with focussed & detailed work. Knowing this I schedule this work when I’m most alert (for me that’s first thing) and I set my environment up to help. I clear the desk and room of all distractions, I have 2 lights on my desk and the rest of the room in darkness, and I segment my time and tasks so I complete a chunk at a time.
We can all operate in each of these styles, but the bigger the gap between styles, the more effort or application it will take for us to operate in that way. Knowing this we can identify how we will do that. For example, if your yellow is low and you need to attend a networking event and give a presentation you might want to consider preparation tactics to help do this.
Knowing our profile (and how this might land on other people) also gives us insights into how other people perceive us. Being high red I’m very comfortable with quick decisions and blunt conversations. But having gained insights through DISC I can appreciate how others might see this as rushed and rude, depending on their style and the situation. So I flex and adapt when appropriate.
This brings us to the key benefit when working with others. If we can develop an insight on the preferred style of others, then we can evaluate how best to adapt our style and meet them in the middle. This reinforces why I favour the DISC model. When we work with other people they don’t come with an instruction manual of their preferences, and we don’t usually ask them to complete a psychometric test. All we have to go on is their behaviour. As the DISC model is based on observable behaviours then this provides us with useful insights. The intention isn’t to get our way over other people, but to understand how we can work effectively and productively together.
I hope you’ve found this short serries useful. I’m frequently asked how fixed our operating style is and whether it changes over our life and career. It’s a great question and something I will address with a different model next time.
🔷 RESILIENT SKILLS PROGRAMME – Our programme for SMEs that want more effective teams that work better together, solve problems and build resilience.
🔴 LASTING IMPACT ACADEMY – Our training platform for third sector organisations with no training budget. Support your team to build resilience, reduce overwhelm and deliver effective outcomes.