I have been meaning to write this post since ages now but it always gave way to something more interesting. Of late I have been on some sort of a writer’s block, so I decided to take it out from the archives of my brain. This dates back to the time of 2014, the time me and many of my co-workers would be on a constant lookout for relevant trainings for our domain - preferably in locations far away from our office This would give us kind of a holiday from work, a chance to explore another branch of our officer, the new canteen food, ahem the new crowd and of course since the trainings would get over way early than usual office timings a chance to explore the nearby joints and markets.
One fine day I managed to get nominated to training in Powai, which is like the very hep part of Mumbai and the duration of the training was WAIT-FOR-IT 1 week! And Mumbai monsoons had just made their presence felt – the time where everything is just so dreamy, romantic and beautiful. When you love prancing about in newly bought rainy footwear and eating plates full of kanja bhajiya with adrakh wali chai. So the timing of this 1 week long training just couldn’t have been better.
I woke up bright and early for my 40 minute bus ride. I learnt the importance of exact-estimate timings in Mumbai. When you reach office at 9:04, you say Nine O Four and not Nine O clock. If the duration is 40 minutes, it means 40 you cannot say it takes about an hour. Nope. Not acceptable. Next train at 6:46 means exactly that. Don’t wait at the platform from 6:30. Enjoy a wada-pav and then be ready to board before the train stops. In my part of the world life is lead at a leisurely pace and our timings are calculated in a similar way - depending on our mood. For example, in the event of an electricity cut that happened 5 minutes ago – everyone will swear “Ek ghante se gye hue hai ji”. And once it’s restored since 1 hour – “Bas abhi aye koi 5 minute pehle”. It was very hard to unlearn this lovely way of communicating by exaggeration.
Now coming back to the bus commute. For the 5 working days I traveled in this bus, I managed to lose a watch, a pair of earphones and funnily a packet of biscuits I had kept in my bag back. These minor mishaps coupled with the struggle of getting auto after the bus ride did dampen the spirits a bit, but the show must go on. And the show (read: training) was spectacular. Very interactive with a bunch of people from different backgrounds of technical work. Each day was filled with numerous activities and interactions that literally kept us on toes. We were divided into groups for all activities and the groups kept changing to facilitate maximum interaction. We are supposed to share our aspirations, fears, disappointments with each other. And while it may seem strange to open up to a complete stranger surprisingly it was rather easy and oddly calming.
But the biggest take away from the 5 days was what has inspired the post and its title – the DISC analysis. Now as a manager or a senior member in the team – your responsibilities go beyond just getting the task done. A good mentor not only understands the requirement but also has to judge the aptitude and skill of the person doing it. More than getting the work done, understanding who best to do it is what makes a difference. And in order to make that judgement who should know the judgement criteria. Which category of personality do you fall in? What type of person is best-fit to do the work and what decisions to make in case of conflicts and hassles? That’s here the DISC comes into picture. The one week training mostly focused on prepping us up as young managers.
So basically DISC is a personality evaluation technique. On basis of a few questions (which you have to answer honestly) it fits you in one of the 4 personality types – Dominant, Influencer, Complaint and Steady. Now there are many other names for this test and numerous interpretations but the abstract remains the same. It is closely associates with the Type A, Type B, Type C and Type D personality test. For me rather than understand people around me, this analysis helped me to understand myself. It also gave me a chance to work on my weaknesses and improve things that are not so great. It is accurately true provided you answer the questions truthfully.
One fine day I managed to get nominated to training in Powai, which is like the very hep part of Mumbai and the duration of the training was WAIT-FOR-IT 1 week! And Mumbai monsoons had just made their presence felt – the time where everything is just so dreamy, romantic and beautiful. When you love prancing about in newly bought rainy footwear and eating plates full of kanja bhajiya with adrakh wali chai. So the timing of this 1 week long training just couldn’t have been better.
I woke up bright and early for my 40 minute bus ride. I learnt the importance of exact-estimate timings in Mumbai. When you reach office at 9:04, you say Nine O Four and not Nine O clock. If the duration is 40 minutes, it means 40 you cannot say it takes about an hour. Nope. Not acceptable. Next train at 6:46 means exactly that. Don’t wait at the platform from 6:30. Enjoy a wada-pav and then be ready to board before the train stops. In my part of the world life is lead at a leisurely pace and our timings are calculated in a similar way - depending on our mood. For example, in the event of an electricity cut that happened 5 minutes ago – everyone will swear “Ek ghante se gye hue hai ji”. And once it’s restored since 1 hour – “Bas abhi aye koi 5 minute pehle”. It was very hard to unlearn this lovely way of communicating by exaggeration.
Now coming back to the bus commute. For the 5 working days I traveled in this bus, I managed to lose a watch, a pair of earphones and funnily a packet of biscuits I had kept in my bag back. These minor mishaps coupled with the struggle of getting auto after the bus ride did dampen the spirits a bit, but the show must go on. And the show (read: training) was spectacular. Very interactive with a bunch of people from different backgrounds of technical work. Each day was filled with numerous activities and interactions that literally kept us on toes. We were divided into groups for all activities and the groups kept changing to facilitate maximum interaction. We are supposed to share our aspirations, fears, disappointments with each other. And while it may seem strange to open up to a complete stranger surprisingly it was rather easy and oddly calming.
But the biggest take away from the 5 days was what has inspired the post and its title – the DISC analysis. Now as a manager or a senior member in the team – your responsibilities go beyond just getting the task done. A good mentor not only understands the requirement but also has to judge the aptitude and skill of the person doing it. More than getting the work done, understanding who best to do it is what makes a difference. And in order to make that judgement who should know the judgement criteria. Which category of personality do you fall in? What type of person is best-fit to do the work and what decisions to make in case of conflicts and hassles? That’s here the DISC comes into picture. The one week training mostly focused on prepping us up as young managers.
So basically DISC is a personality evaluation technique. On basis of a few questions (which you have to answer honestly) it fits you in one of the 4 personality types – Dominant, Influencer, Complaint and Steady. Now there are many other names for this test and numerous interpretations but the abstract remains the same. It is closely associates with the Type A, Type B, Type C and Type D personality test. For me rather than understand people around me, this analysis helped me to understand myself. It also gave me a chance to work on my weaknesses and improve things that are not so great. It is accurately true provided you answer the questions truthfully.
Having strong Type B straits makes me very resistant to change. But since I have found that about me, I have tried to overcome this. Like when I had to make a move in my career from a very comfortable zone to something unknown I actually took inspiration from my little niece. She had just moved from a very familiar pre-school to a bigger school with no old friends and was doing so good. On the other hand I used to brawl for months when I changed school in 5th standard. Another trait that I wish/work on changing is avoiding confrontation. This is not just related to office but in day to day life. When I think back, I remember all minute details of instances when I kept quiet when a middle aged man touched me inappropriately in a bus or flashed himself in broad daylight. It can be as simple as not ordering what you want in a restaurant to not disagreeing to an approach a Type A (Dominant) person is putting across.
These are just small examples, but the usage of this analysis is vast! This theory can be applied in partnerships too. And what better partnership than marriages! DISC can help you identify the best match, so much better than asking useless questions like "favorite movie", "Do you drink" etc. It would be best to avoid two dominants, moreover two compliant or steady's would again have nothing to teach or motivate their better half's about. Just like fashion, it would be best to mix and match and get that perfect look!
Now just go take the test already!
Let me know your thoughts in comments.
Lots of Love:
Sepo
