Management with DISC profile analysis

Abstract

DISC profile analysis is a strategical tool for evaluating behavior often used internally in an organisation by managers to improve group dynamics and the well-being of the individual. DISC is a very simple and easy to use tool for improving relations, resolving conflicts, enhances motivation, and supports self-growth all by obtaining a better understanding of the individual’s personality. Misunderstandings happen daily and can lead to stress, unhappiness and low working effort. DISC was created by psychiatrist and professor William Moulton Marston, who believed all humans have psychological motives but they differ from human to human. The letters DISC stems from the words dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. The tool assesses the level of dominance, influence, stability, and competence an individual possesses by referencing the norm. In the following the DICS personality profile tool is considered for managers and team leaders working teams or groups and in applicable whether it is project, program or portfolio management. .

History

The history of the four quadrants DISC personality profile can be traced all the way back to Empodocles four elements of fire, earth, air and water in 450 B.C. Empodocles observed people seemed to behave in four different ways due to external environmental factors. 50 years later Hippocrates redefined these as four internal factors called the four temperaments: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholic. Many years later the theory was advanced further by Carl Jung. In 1921 Jung reconfirmed personality traits were internal and attributed the differences to how people think. Jung saw these four differences as: thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition. Today these are often used in Myers Briggs Personality Test (MBTI). The DISC personality was manifested in 1928 when William Moulton Marston published his book with the title “Emotions of Normal People”. The main principles of DICS have its roots in the book. Marston believed people’s daily behavior stems from their predictable characteristics. The behavior was not only seen as internal but also influenced by the external environment. Marston defined the personality trait as: dominance, influence, steadiness and compliance. Based on Marston’s theory Walter Clark developed the DISC personality profile in 1940 which is widely used today.