Many of us may have taken the DISC and Myers-Briggs assessment.  Both give you insight as to how you see the world and work in it.  You may ask the question “Which is better?”  In fact, the better question might be “How are they different?”  In brief, many describe the MBTI as a measure of personality while the DISC measures behavior.  Over the last 30 years both assessment instruments have been very popular.  The MBTI gained early acceptance in academic circles and among “experts”.  The DISC which has become more popular in recent years because the fields of talent management, HR, and leadership development have become more behavior-oriented.

I have taken the MBTI many times and have found the explanations of my ENTP personality very helpful.  People who are familiar with the MBTI also find it helpful in working with teams.  The challenge is that for people who are not familiar with it, the MBTI can be pretty complex.  In contrast, the DISC is generally easier for most everyone to read and understand.  One example of this is seen in training.  After I sit down with team leaders and go over their DISC, they can usually do an adequate or better job going over reports with their teams either collectively or individually.  Also, since the DISC focuses on behavior and resulting communication patterns, it is easy for team members to make practical applications in the workplace.

If you have the opportunity to go over your MBTI with someone who is skilled and experienced with the instrument, go for it.  You will no doubt gain some insight. However, in today’s professional environment, I believe that the DISC is the instrument that provides more value, more insight, and less cost for most organizations.

Here are a few links that compare the MBTI and DISC:

Training Magazine: DISC vs MBTI: The Training Dilemma

DISC versus MBTI: Why DISC is a better choice for Business Execs today

Manager Tools: DISC vs MBTI

I have been using assessments for years and typically it brings a high level of interest.  Sometimes, however, a person will ask “Why are we doing this?” Here are some thoughts on why effective assessments can be transformational.

Self-Awareness
Virtually every leadership expert and research study emphasizes that leadership effectiveness begins with self-awareness.  Jeff Baldoni, author of Lead with Purpose: Giving Your Organization a Reason to Believe in Itself, started off his blog entitled “How to Crack the Self-Awareness Paradigm” with these words: “To bring people together around a common cause, it is critical that a leader be self-aware.” The better you know yourself, the better you are able to leverage your  passion, abilities, and experience in advancing your team and mission.  A formal assessment tool like the DISC can give you a few more insights on how you function.  My DISC narrative says ” Rick embraces visions not always seen by others.”  It also says “Rick needs to learn to relax and pace himself.” Both these insights help me to do my best work over time.  My hope is that you can become the best version of you as you daily gain more insight on who you are and how you work.

Team-Awareness
If self-awareness is at the top of the list of importance, team-awareness is near the top.  Knowing your team is crucial to accomplishing your mission. Pick your favorite team sport and then think about how important it is that the players understand one another and communicate well together.  How do you get to know one another better?  Strategies can include: 1) time together, 2) project work together, 3) formal assessments, etc.  The advantage of a DISC assessment is that it brings a  tremendous amount of information about your team together in a readable format.  When I have done DISC assessments with individuals, there are always some who don’t like the process.  Interestingly, while they may not like the process for themselves, they will almost always see the value of the process in helping them to better understand their team.

Communication
There are not many constants in our world.  One constant is miscommunication.  Whether it is in married life, with our children, or with our co-workers, we seem to always have challenges when it comes to communication.  One reason we  miscommunicate is because we see the world differently.  I have a high tendency toward motion, progress, and action.  My wife, Cheri, is more given to listening, encouraging, and supporting in her work.  Knowing these differences helps me to slow down and her to speed up.  These strategies, based on our tendencies, help us to communicate better.  When we go over our DISC assessments together, we are reminded that we have markedly different patterns of behavior.  By using the DISC assessment, your team can more quickly understand how to more effectively communicate together.

As you grow in your self-awareness, team-awareness, and ability to communicate well together, you have a much greater chance of doing your best work together with greater effectiveness and less strife.

If you would like to explore a DISC assessment for you and/or your team, feel free to contact GrowingLeadership for more information.

Over the last several decades there has been a rise in the use of assessment instruments.  In the 1980s, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) grew in popularity.  In more recent years, the DISC has passed the MBTI in popularity largely because of its straightforward usefulness.  While the MBTI focuses on personality type and internal processing, the DISC gives more attention to your approach to everyday work.

The term DISC stands for the four letters D-I-S-C which refer to four variables.  You can also also assign a P-letter word with each variable:

D =Dominance: Overcoming obstacles (Problems)
I =Influence: Relating to others (People)
S=Steadiness: Working with pacing and change (Pacing)
C=Conscientiousness: Focus on quality and rules (Procedures)

Additional ways of looking at these four letters include:

-Extroversion is associated with higher levels of D and I
-Introversion is associated with higher levels of S and C
-Task orientation is more often associated with D and C
-People orientation is more often associated with I and S

The DISC makes a point to not focus on intention or personality  but rather on behavioral preferences in the workplace.  DISC advocates champion the use of the DISC with individuals and teams in the following areas:

• Self-awareness
• Team building
• Conflict management
• Leadership development
• Coaching and mentoring

Several different vendors tie into the core engine of the DISC delivering different kinds of customized reports.  I was given the Target Training International (TTI) version of the DISC some years ago and found it to be thorough, insightful, and easy to understand.  Therefore, I now use the TTI version of the DISC with the people, teams, and organizations that I work with.