Knowing me. Knowing you. An introduction to DiSC®.

A poignant line from that classic ABBA hit song of the same name.

Before I left Australia in 2007 to find, buy into and grow a small I.T. company in the UK, I asked for some feedback from my fellow business partners and the General Manager in one of the businesses I had started eight years earlier.

One weakness most raised (which I already knew but my ego was probably getting in the way of doing anything about it) was my people skills. My management style was one of ‘work hard, play hard and make as few mistakes as possible’. I obviously expected the same of everyone else. I am quite driven, very goal and task focused but can happily talk with people (as long as it’s not small-talk, it must have a purpose!). This style worked fine in some situations and with some people, but not in others. The same can be said for the other management styles my fellow business partners – we’re all different).

Now, instead of brooding about this less than pleasant feedback, I decided to do something about it, as an effective small business owner should – continually look for ways to improve things, even if that is yourself. I asked a great friend of mine who was pretty high up in HR at a large Australian I.T. company – ‘which behavioural model should I study and use in my move to London – so I could be a more effective manager?’. She rolled off Myers-Briggs and DiSC®, and from memory she said the latter was probably the best one. I went away, did some reading but found it all quite dry and none of it grabbed me.

Around then a terrific customer in Sydney put m the best management resource I’ve ever come across, Manager Tools. Mark and Mike’s awesome podcast started in June 2005, I found them in early 2007 so as I was in the gym working my way through their back catalogue I noticed a series on DiSC®.

When I listened to the first cast, DiSC® started to make sense. And when I got to the cast on the ‘High D’ quadrant, I almost fell off the treadmill!

A ‘High D’ was me, so vividly described. As I worked through the other three quadrants it dawned on me why some business partners and people I come across in business I get along with much better, other ‘High Ds’. While others would absolutely shit me, primarily the ‘High Is’ as in my ‘High D’ world they are ‘all talkie, no workie’.

This quote from their podcast on the dangers of managing a High I clearly defines my nemesis in DiSC®:

“Deadlines get missed very often by High Is. If you’re a manager and you’ve got somebody who misses a lot of deadlines, and they tend to be outgoing and friendly, and maybe chitty-chatty when you’re not. You’re probably dealing, not guaranteed, you’re probably dealing with a High I. And, that’s OK. You don’t shoot yourself or shoot them. You simply adjust your managerial style which is what we recommend – managing for individuals anyway.”

Mark Horstman, Manager Tools podcast: Managing a High I dangers – part 1

Listening to Mark and Mike I came to appreciate my behavioral style – the one you revert to under pressure and duress. And they taught me that it is not only possible to adapt your behaviour to other quadrants, but it is OK to do so. It is not mirroring or being false, it is being effective.

This allowed me to change my behaviour so I could more effectively engage with other people in business, especially when managing a team to get more from them.

Since learning about DiSC® I have been in awe sometimes at how powerful, useful and accurate it is. It is one of the most valuable business tools I have come across, since people are the hardest and most important thing in business.

Each quadrant is in two hemispheres: introverts or extroverts, and people-oriented or task-orientated:

Here’s a quick summary of the model (with a strapline for each, thanks to Mark andke at Manager Tools):

There are better descriptions and explanations at the Manager Tools website, especially in the sample report you can see when you do the DiSC® test online.