I was working on a programme last week which uses the DISC model as an introduction to personality difference, in preparation for team working on a two day business case simulation. I like the DISC model in this context because it is simple (in both concept and language) and easy to remember (if you use the Red, Green, Yellow and Blue colours that is). But it is often dismissed as too simple. For example I've heard it dismissed as "simplified MBTI" - which is inaccurate on both counts!
I'm not going to explain the model here - I have a feeling I did this in a previous post (and anyway you can Google it for yourselves). However, I will share a few thoughts which came to me as I mused on DISC while the teams were working away on their simulation.
Firstly, I find the most useful thing about the model is that one dimension is about whether you see the world as threat or opportunity (and the consequences on behaviour). Discussions around this can take you quite deep quite quickly and open up the possibility of change more directly than many other models (such as MBTI).
Secondly, it maps really easily to the Belbin model - the Belbin roles people habitually take will probably reflect their DISC profile. More interestingly, just as Belbin roles are all necessary in a team, so are DISC profile characteristics. And when there is a gap, a role (or a characteristic) can often be adopted by someone for whom it is not normal, but for whom it is quite an easy step.
Lastly, it is easy to see a connection to Centaur types (again, see earlier posts, my website or Google). Although it doesn't map exactly, you can see that Warriors and Wizards will typically be D's and C's (seeing other people as "threats"), and Poets and Good Parents will be S's and I's (seeing others as "opportunities").
These mappings and connections are not just for intellectual amusement. I find them useful in helping me move from using the DISC model as just another label to something which enables personal change through deeper awareness of what is really going on.
