DiSC: Simple Evaluator - Work Style & Temperament

I went over how I use DiSC to evaluate people to help me communicate with them by adjusting to their preference.

The thing I love about DiSC is that I do not need to have the other person take a test and tell me their result (it does help!) DiSC as a framework is simple enough that one can apply it and get a general sense of another person’s DiSC preference.

An easy way to do this is to ask these two questions about the person:

• What’s their temperament? Are they generally patient or impatient?
• What’s their work style? Do they focus on tasks or people?

These two questions form the basic axes that overlap with DiSC’s framework (Thanks JB for this!) This is what it looks like:

• Vertical axis (top to bottom): Impatient or Patient
• Horizontal axis (left to right): Tasks or People

To tell if a person’s preference is:

• dominating - they are impatient and like to focus on tasks
• influence - they are impatient and like to focus on people
• steadiness - they are patient and like to focus on people
• conscientious - they are patient and like to focus on tasks

How is this helpful?

If you know your own preference, you can compare yourself with the person you are communicating with.

Total Overlap

When there’s total overlap, there’s a good chance you will have an easier time communicating with them because your preferences align. You’re like two peas in a pod!

Note that what may be harmonious within one preference may appear as conflict to another preference.

Shared Axis

When there’s a shared axis, there’s common ground along the shared axis, either in work style or temperament. There’s more: “I can see what’s going on” here.

• D and i
• D and C
• i and S
• S and C

Diametrically Opposite

When preferences between you and the other party are on opposites, where you need to cross over from one axis to another, such as:

• D and S
• C and i

Those are the toughest communication challenges because preferences are just opposite. There’s a lot of: “What are you thinking?!”

These preferences take the most to overcome when there are communication issues.

A Test Helps

Even though I am confident in my abilities to evaluate others’ preferences (or even people I never met) - a test will confirm their actual preference, especially under stress.

These preferences manifests in a person when they are under stress.

Disclaimer

Remember, DiSC is not the end all description of a person. They describe a person’s preference in terms of temperament and work style. These preferences can change over time with input, experience, and results.

No one type is better than another either.

(Honestly, this is just for me to remind myself.)