Who's Working In Your Organization?
RDS Logo

The DISC Model


With People being the Central Element for creating High Performance in your organization (see the Seven Elements of High Performance™, you need the ability to understand how and why they behave the way that they do, what motivates them, and how to engage their behavior to drive performance. If your organization fails to understand this critical element, then it will not be a High Performing Organization.

Whole Person Dynamics gives you a system to better understand people and help build the positive relationships necessary for organizational success and significance.  A major part of that system is the DISC Behavioral Styles Model.

The DISC Behavioral Styles Model can help you to better understand your employees and customers so you can master this Core Element. First published in his book "The Emotions of Normal People" Dr. William Moulton Marston introduced his theory of behavioral styles that has now become know as DISC.

DISC Behavioral Styles

DISC is a very simple, yet effective way of understanding behavior. It is based upon four dimensions of behavior: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness (see an overview of the model here). Each of these four dimensions has particular behaviors associated with them, and each of the dimensions exists in all of us. But over time and based upon what has typically worked for us in a particular environment, most of us have typically found that a particular style works better for us and we tend to rely on those behaviors. The problem is, that style may or may not be effective for us to be able to get our work done, or to help others to get their work done. Also, we are working with other people or serving other people, and their style of behaving may be different than our style, which can cause conflicts or misunderstandings. What works for us just may not work for someone else. That doesn’t mean that anyone is wrong, just that we are different.

A Different Approach

Many people have probably experienced one of the many profiles that are often based upon Marston's theory, or a combination of his theory and Jung. But DISC is much more than just a profile. It is a comprehensive system that allows people to interact and talk about behaviors in a non-judgmental fashion. Behavioral and personality style inventories and profiles are just simply tools.

While we use DISC based profiles to help people understand the workings of the DISC Behavioral Styles Model, our goal is to actually have members of the organization learn how to utilize the Model and the tools to enhance performance, communication, customer satisfaction, sales, efficiency on projects and processes, and just about any other activity that the organization is engaged in that involves people interacting with other people, processes, or tasks. If it involves behavior, then it probably involves DISC.

A Common Language

By utilizing the DISC Behavioral Styles Model, the organization now has a common language to begin discussing process and performance issues as they relate to people, all in a non-judgmental approach. For many people, DISC represents the first time they have ever been exposed to a systematic approach for managing human behavior, either their own or others. It is a system that they can use to build their own process of structured inquiry for solving problems and enhancing performance.

The DISC Behavioral Styles Model provides the operating instructions for humans that most people have been looking for all of their lives. Now people can understand why they don’t like performing certain tasks required of their job, yet can excel at others. They can understand why co-workers can behave in certain ways that would be uncomfortable for them to behave in the same manner. The DISC Behavioral Styles Model now allows people to be able to not just communicate better, but begin to understand each other a little better, as they are now all using the same language; the language of DISC.


 

More Information about DISC

DISC and Whole Person Dynamics™.

 


 

Gary's article about Models, Not Profiles, which describes the difference between taking a holistic, models approach to increasing organizational performance rather than an assessment approach.

 


 

Videos

The following are some narrated slideshows/videos by Pamela Cole, researcher and the developer of several of the Inscape DiSC® based assessments and tools.

Why DISC?

 

The Benefits of DISC

 

A New Understanding of DISC

 

Using DISC Strengths to Achieve Job Fit

 

DISC and Situational Leadership

 

 

An Example of Using DISC to Enhance Job Performance for Two Project Managers

 

 


 

DiSC Research Reports

DiSC® Classic Research Report

DiSC® and Personality

Comparing DiSC® Classic to Work Expectations®

Comparing DiSC® to MBTI®

Work Expectations® Research Report

 

 


 



Copyright 1997-2016
Resource Development Systems, LLC