DISC Versus MBTI and Other Assessments
We often get asked, “Why the DISC versus MBTI or other assessments?” First of all it is important to note leadership development is never once and done or at least it shouldn’t be. It happens over time and leaders are developed day by day. As such it is great to take a wide variety of assessments to learn all you can about your personality, your strengths, blindspots, communication preferences and how you lead. We will share a break down on the DISC, the MBTI, and other assessments below and share why we think the Disc wins when choosing an assessment or training.
DISC Comparison and Alternatives
Each assessment tends to focus on different components. Let’s break some of that down here and then we will get into why we choose the Disc and the DISC training as a foundation for the businesses we work with.
Here is a brief summary of some different assessments:
- DISC: Improves relationships and workplace culture with a simple model that focuses on observable, situational behavior.
- MBTI: Gives personal insight and understanding of psychological type and emphasizes fixed, inherent personality traits.
- Enneagram: Focuses on deep motivations, fears, and is often used for personal growth and development.
- Clifton Strengths: Identifies a person’s top strengths rather than just personality type of behavior.
- Six Types of Working Genius: Introduces a model to help individuals and teams understand their working preferences, identifying two (energizing) geniuses, two competencies (capable but not loved), and two frustrations (draining).
- Kolbe: Measures instinctive method of operation, or “conative” strengths, rather than intelligence or personality.
- Predictive Index: Predicts workplace performance based on assessing behavioral and cognitive abilities.
Those are some of the main assessments used in organizations and with individuals and teams. All are good and serve their purpose. We encourage people to try a variety of assessments, but as with anything for an assessment or system to work it must be simple to understand, and easy to implement. You must also be able to replicate the system for people to use long after training day is over. The DISC Model of Human Behavior is simple and easy to learn, but most importantly it is effective for individuals and teams.
Why the DISC?
The reason we choose to use the DISC in the companies we work with is:
- It sets a foundation for company culture.
- Teams learn a shared language and understanding of basic work and communication styles.
- The DISC is easy to learn and apply after one training day.
- Our system for implementing DISC after training works and we can help you with those processes.
- People start to leverage their strengths and to appreciate the other team members with different styles.
- Greater understanding, appreciation, and productivity happen.
MBTI, Clifton Strengths and the DISC
The MBTI is great, but often hard for people to understand and grasp all of the different types in just one sitting or training day. We also get questions about Clifton Strengths. This is another great assessment. However, I like to remind people, if I don’t like you and you don’t like me, I guarantee we are not going to care about each other’s strengths!
That is why the DISC works so well. Teams first learn about their basic styles, preferences, and they get information they can use right away to communicate and be more effective with one another. Ultimately, this leads to greater productivity and better team dynamics. We have been doing this for more than a decade and have never done the DISC where it hasn’t positively impacted the people participating.
Summary and Why the DISC Wins
In summary, try all of the assessments. Learn all you can about yourself and others, but when choosing something to use with your team and as a foundation for your culture, it should hands down be DISC training every single time. The investment you make will pay dividends for you and your people. The DISC training is used in more than 70% of Fortune 500 companies. Many people are looking for the next, new, or shiny assessment or thing, but we like to stick with those strong foundations and principles which are tried and true. They just work. Interested in learning more on how the DISC training can benefit you or your team or how we can customize a training day for you? Fill out our contact form and we will get in touch soon.