Introduction to the DISC Human Behavior Model The DISC Human Behavior Model

Your leadership style, communication style, and parenting style are heavily influenced by your personality style. The same is true for other people. How you communicate with people, build relationships, raise your kids, network at business meetings, and build teams all hinge on the interaction between your style and the style of people with whom you interact. Personality and behavioral style differences can get in the way of clear communication and understanding. If you have a framework for understanding these differences, you can work with people much more effectively. The DISC human behavior model is a simple and powerful tool for building this understanding. This lens contains an overview of the DISC human behavior model. My specialty is helping people learn to apply this model in conflict resolution, leadership, team building, parenting, and teaching. We won't get into that level of detail in this lens.

What You'll Find In This Lens • • • • • • •

Dueling Paradigms Funny Videos That Illustrate Key Points Using The DISC Model People Don't Do Things Against You... Solving People Puzzles With The DISC Human Behavior Model Think Blends and Not Boxes How This Model Applies to Conflicts Between People Beware of Using Labels

Dueling Paradigms

You've spent the last 12 years riding your technical skills up the corporate ladder. Now the payoff--you're a manager. Congratulations. You get the perks: Big title. Big paycheck. Big office. Big people problems! People problems, you think? Ha, no issue. You're the best in the department. You know every piece of equipment. You know business thanks to the MBA you earned at night. And, you are motivated. You work hard. You are committed to excellence. People problems...no issue. But...the Sales manager frustrates you because she "never gets all the details." And...the administrative assistant irritates you by talking on the phone about personal issues? Well...the customer service people...they cost your department lots of money because they just don't know how to politely tell a customer no? Hmmm, maybe there are some people issues out there. What you see may well be a case of "dueling paradigms" - a problem that could poison your team. Your paradigm - your viewpoint - is how you see the world. Sounds obvious...and, it is...but very often, good people don't see the real problem until they have made a lot of costly mistakes. You interpret people's words and actions through your paradigm. But they often have a different paradigm, and they act on their paradigm, not yours. The conflict comes when we assume they have our paradigm...and they assume we have theirs. The people problems most technical people face as managers are predictable. People in highly technical fields like engineering, medicine, information technology, etc. often see the world through a technical/analytical filter...and they expect people to respond with the same precision they demand from their profession. But what made them good technically, what got them to management, may be their biggest barrier to further success -- because as a manager, people skills are far more important than

technical skills. People from non-technical backgrounds face a similar problem. They often view the world through a people/relationship filter, and they may have a difficult time understanding highly analytical people. Fortunately, there is hope. Look through this lens for some principles you can use to build better working relationships and stronger teams.

Funny Videos That Illustrate Key Points Using The DISC Model My Colleague - Dr. Robert Rohm - In Action

Phone Restriction - Robert Rohm, Ph.D.

Runtime: 3:48 1148 views 1 Comments:

You Hurt My Feelings - Robert Rohm, Ph.D.

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Lost Shoes in the Dressing Room - Robert Rohm, Ph.D.

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Going to Florida - Robert Rohm, Ph.D.

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Learning to Drive - Robert Rohm, Ph.D.

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Raking the Yard - Robert Rohm, Ph.D.

Runtime: 1:26 507 views 1 Comments: curated content from YouTube

People Don't Do Things Against You... ...They Do Things For Themselves

This concept can sound strange at first. Some people find it hard to accept initially. Still, the concept is true in the vast majority of situations where people interact. Most of the people you interact with on a daily basis do what they do to fulfill their needs and expectations without much thought to your needs and expectations. This statement does not imply that people never think about how their words and actions will impact you. It just recognizes that people usually do not choose their words and actions with a conscious desire to attack or minimize your needs and expectations. If you do not recognize this idea, you may find yourself locked in a struggle over who's needs will take precendence. This struggle then creates a situation where neither your needs nor their needs are met by the interaction. Many of the conflicts we experience in daily life are the result of this struggle. When either you or the other person has unmet needs and expectations, you will experience stress and conflict. Remember the Dueling Paradigms? If you listen carefully to what people say, their expressions will often show that an unmet need or a violated expectation lies behind their frustation. Look at some common complaint statements like: § § § § §

"They talk too slow/too fast!" "They never get the facts straight!" "They worry too much about the details!" etc. They spend too much/too little time with other people? They decide too quickly/too slowly?

Notice that these comments are all from the speaker's perspective, and they all reflect an unmet need or expectation of some kind. When people of different behavioral styles interact, they often communicate from their own perspective without truly understanding or appreciating the other person's. Even the Golden Rule — "Do unto others as you would have done unto you" — can create problems. A better rule might be: "Do unto other's as they would have done unto them." The DISC Human Behavior Model shows that people with different primary behavioral styles

view and approach things quite differently. So, they have different expectations, different personal needs, and different interpretations of the same situation. To really improve our interactions with other people, we must recognize that we cannot change their needs and expectations. We might influence their behaviors. We cannot change their needs. Ultimately, we influence others by adapting our own behaviors so that we meet their needs and expectations. By adapting to meet other people's needs we create an environment that breeds cooperation and facilitates progress. Creating this environment is a major step towards enhancing team performance and reducing conflict. Recognizing that people act to meet their own needs frees us from the frustration we feel when trying to push or pull them. By gaining insight into ourselves and then adapting our behaviors to meet other people's needs, we start releasing the positive energy of cooperation and minimizing the negative energy of a struggle.

Solving People Puzzles With The DISC Human Behavior Model

People tend to go about everything they do — from how they solve problems at work to how they drive a car — based on their behavioral style. For example, technical people tend to have a very analytical, task-oriented approach to life. They often see life as a collection of problems that need to be solved and as severe disorder that needs to be organized. Other equally intelligent and capable people see life as a series of interactions and relationships with other people. Remember the Sales manager from the Dueling Paradigms module? She isn't acting like she does to give the technically oriented manager a stroke. Most likely, she just sees the world differently. She has a different paradigm. One way of explaining these different paradigms is with what is commonly known as the DISC Human Behavior Model. In the 1920's a Harvard psychologist named Dr. William Moulton Marston developed a theory that people tend to develop a self-concept based on one of four factors — Dominance, Inducement, Steadiness, or Compliance. This idea forms the basis for the DISC theory as it is

commonly applied today. Later psychologists and behavioral specialists developed a variety of practical tools to apply Marston's theory. Currently, there are many assessment and measurement tools based on the DISC model. Dr. Robert Rohm — founder and president of Personality Insights, Inc of Atlanta, Georgia — has developed the best collection of practical application tools using the DISC model that I have found. Through his work, his publications, the work of his team, and a network of Human Behavioral consultants certified to teach his material; he has reached millions of people around the world. In the DISC model as taught by Personality Insights consultants, the full range of normal human behavior is defined by a circle divided into quadrants as described below. Divide a circle in half horizontally. The upper half represents outgoing or fast-paced people. The lower half represents reserved or slower-paced people. Outgoing people tend to move fast, talk fast, and decide fast. Reserved people tend to speak more slowly and softer than outgoing people and they generally prefer to consider things thoroughly before making a decision.

The circle can also be divided vertically. The left half represents task-oriented people. The right half represents people-oriented people. Task-orientd people tend to focus on logic, data, results and projects. People-oriented people tend to focus on experiences, feelings, relationships, and interactions with other people.

Combining these two circles completes the model description...

D type individuals are outgoing and task-oriented. They tend to be Dominant and Decisive. They usually focus on results and the bottom-line.

I type individuals are outgoing and people-oriented. They tend to be Inspiring and Influencing. They usually focus on talking and having fun.

S type individuals are reserved and people-oriented. They tend to be Supportive and Steady. They usually focus on peace and harmony.

C type individuals are reserved and task-oriented. They tend to be Cautious and Conscientious. They usually focus on facts and rules. Photos from www.sxc.hu

Think Blends and Not Boxes The four basic behavioral styles represent reference points for understanding different perspectives. Each of us has a blend of all four traits. We are NOT just one type or the other. Use the DISC Model to understand frames of reference and not as a tool to "box people in."

How This Model Applies to Conflicts Between People Conflict often comes from a clash of styles

Here's an example to consider, the fast speech, lack of attention to detail, and tendency of an I-type person to speak about feelings rather than facts might frustrate a C-type person, who is Cautious and Conscientious. Likewise, the C-type person's slower pace, constant questioning, and apparent lack of concern for people could frustrate the I-type person who is Inspiring and Influencing. Your effort to understand behavioral style information helps to resolve conflicts, get better results, and build stronger relationshps by assisting you as you attempt to interact with people in a way that meets their needs and expectations. This knowlege will help you to see people who behave differently from you as different rather than wrong so that you will feel less desire to control other people and more comfortable working to influence them.

Beware of Using Labels A warning about using this information as a weapon

For the purpose of this lens, I kept the description of each primary behavioral style short and simple. I did that only to illustrate the differences between the four basic behavioral styles. I do not mean to imply that everyone has only one of these traits and none of the others. In practice, everyone is a unique blend of these four behavioral types. These unique blends will combine the four types in varying degrees. Human behavior is a lot more complex than we can describe with only four neat and tidy boxes. If we look at these four descriptive types as building blocks for understanding how people see the world, and not as labels to box people in, then we start to develop a better picture of how other people might perceive us and their experiences with us.

For example, I have strong C, S, and D traits. My wife has strong D and I traits and less intense C traits. I have almost no I traits. She has almost no S traits. We have some similarities, and we have some differences. The four behavioral style descriptors help us to understand both our simiarities and our differences more clearly. Keep this in mind as you work to apply the model to your interactions with other people. Assessments are great tools to help you to fully assess and understand your unique behavioral style blend.