AEC DISC Method explained

There are different methods available on the market but the DISC method seems to be the most hands-on and the concept is easy to grasp by the participants and management. That’s what makes DISC method very popular globally with millions of assessments distributed annually.

The DISC method will allow you and your team:

·        Increase one’s self-awareness, get insights into one’s personality and what drives them

·        Understand behaviour and motivation of others

·        Gain tools to adapt one’s communication style to become more efficient

Our clients use it to enhance individual and team performance, to support sales teams and HR experts in recruitment process to choose the best suitable candidate. It’s a great tool in the times of change and company transformation as it creates a common language and understanding of everyone’s communication and behavioural style.

To give you better understanding of it let’s look at the 3 key elements of this method:

1.     Style

DISC method provides a visual chart showing our behavioural preference in two styles:

• Adapted style: behaviours which we adapt and we believe will contribute to our success at work and/or in life.
• Natural Style: behaviours that are the most natural for us and require the least effort. Can appear in situations of comfort and/or in situations of high stress.

Example: Jenny is an accountant in a multinational audit company. Her adapted style has a dominant blue which represents Compliance (analysis, respect for the rules, precision) while her personal style indicates slightly lower score. This can be easily explained by taking in consideration her daily tasks and company mission. At her department it’s important to be detail-oriented, cautious and organised and there is no place for improvisation and risk taking.

2.     Colours

In the DISC method there are 4 colours that were drawn from the research of M.W. Marston (1928). He described human behaviour in four categories identified as: Dominance, Inducement, Steadiness and Compliance. In the colour method they represent respectively Red, Yellow, Green and Blue as shown below.

The results of the questionnaire will indicate which colours are dominant for the person and which are non-dominant. Each person is unique and they will have a different combination of colours and their intensity. What is crucial at this stage is not to categorise people as ONE COLOUR as we need to take the whole dynamic between colours into consideration. These dynamics will influence the intensity of certain traits and further on we will see that they can get amplified or soften by the 6 personal motivations, that we will describe further.

Example: John has two dominant colours: Red and Yellow. As a dominant Red he has tendency to take quick decisions, concentrate on the results and tasks and his Yellow side gives him very good communication skills and high optimism which makes him a good leader of a start-up in the growth stage when you need to act fast and create your opportunities. His low Blue indicates that he might be prone to taking risks and low green indicates an increased capacity to accept change and seek it.

3.     Motivations

The DISC method identifies 6 principal motivations drawn from German psychologist, Eduard Spranger’s (1882-1963) research:

• Theoretical

Individuals with hight theoretical motivation seek to discover the “whys and wherefores”. They want to discover truth, analyse and systematise the knowledge. They focus on facts and their meaning, not emotions. They like solving problems and mysteries. They are fantastic teachers, R&D, engineers and researchers.

•  Aesthetic

Individuals with hight aesthetic motivation are driven by internal and/or external beauty. They seek beauty in their work and surroundings. They find extreme satisfaction in the roles that require certain sensitivity to beauty such as in decoration, artistic domains and all connected with nature.

• Economical

Individuals with high economical motivations look for return on investment at work and in relations and usefulness in everything. They are pragmatic and prove to be excellent sales, marketing and finance professionals.

• Altruistic

Individuals with altruistic motivation take selfless actions to help others. They are there to help and have a capacity of getting the best of others. They make excellent volunteers, social workers and medical staff.

• Individualistic

For individuals with high individualist motivation is crucial to have control over their life which might translate into looking to control others and processes. They tend to take the lead easily. We see many politicians, sport professionals and business leaders exhibiting this type of motivation.

• Traditional

Individuals with high traditional motivation show a string system of moral values which they use in the decision making. They need to act on what’s right according to them. We find this motivation among religious, political and army professionals, also people working for NGOs.

What’s important to note that all the motivations have to be considered together and also in a context of the colour profile. One person can have many dominant motivations which will create their unique personality combination.

How does it look in practice?

To complete the questionnaire the participant will receive the link via email. It takes less than 15 min to complete it and then one of our consultants will schedule a 1-2-1 online debriefing session to discuss results together. When working with entire team, we propose a 1.5-day workshop that allows team cohesion and increased understanding of everyone’s strengths.  

Get in touch with one of our consultants and we will help you in choosing the approach that will be the most beneficial for your organisation and your team.