Notes from a conversation with Bill Bonnstetter
prepared by Ron Bonnstetter
D - Dominance: "Approach to Obtaining Results"
High D - Tend to take an active, assertive, direct approach to obtaining results
Low D - Tends to obtain results in a more organized, deliberate, calculated approach.
I - Influencing Others: "Approach to Interacting with Others - Control of Emotions"High I - Tends to approach new others in an outgoing, gregarious, socially aggressive manner. Tends to be impulsive, emotional, reactive.
Low I - Tends to approach new others in a more congenial, controlled, sincere, reserved manner. Tends to place a premium on control of emotions, sincerity, logical approaches
S - Steadiness: "Approach to Social and /or Work Environment - Controlled vs. Flexible"
High S - Tends to prefer a more controlled deliberate, predictable environment. Security of situation. Values disciplined behavior.
Low S - Tends to prefer a more flexible, dynmaic, unstructured environment. The "Don’t fence me in" type. Values freedom of expression.
C - Conscientiousness: "Adherence to Established Standards"
High C - Tends to prefer that things are done the "right way" - according to the book or the established or accepted standards.
Low C - "Tends to operate more independently, the right way is my way, bottom-line oriented.
General Comments for Consideration
One concern is the imbalance in their teams; too many S's and C's.
This tends to happen in Government and schools.
D's and I's leave education.
The system frustrates them, so they get out.
The S's and C's tend to maintain the status quo.
you need an environment where D's and I's can survive.
To be a team two things have to happen. 1. the team has to know how to work together, and more importantly, 2. the team has to be committed to performance and be working toward a shared vision.
DIS-C DIMENSIONAL COMPARISONS
for
Conflict Management
Use graph two for this exercise. Under stress, the basic (natural) graph is better because you are not masking behavior. Graph two (the basic graph or natural) is who you really are.
Graph one (response to environment or adapted) is who you think you need to be to either succeed or survive. But graph one is an act. You are acting out that behavior.
Two High D's Working Together
- Both have a desire to control
- They will have different priorities if their values differ
- Both want to win thus setting up competition.
- May have different approaches to meeting the same goal.
- Proper use of time.
- Letting the emotion of anger get into the issue.
- Taking a forceful stand and fighting for personal beliefs.
- At least the issues will come out. high S and C's do not like to confront issues and will steer away from conflict.
How a High D will be Frustrated by a Low D
The High D will be frustrated by:
-the low D's inability to drive toward a goal with total focus and determination.
- the low D not being viewed as tough enough to deal with the issues.
- inability to focus on a problem and solve it.
- inability to make quick discussions.
- the low D's conservative approach
- their inability to confront the real issues.
- their laid-back approach and slow reactive nature.
- their desire to make all discusses a team discuss and not individual and quick
- inability of the low D to spotlight the program and sell or tell others of its importance's.
- the low D's attempt to overstate the complexity of the problem. The low D may make a problem so complex that we can not deal with it. this creates excuses for not dealing with it.
How a Low D will be Frustrated by a High D
The Low D IS frustrated by the high D's:
- lack of listening skills
- inability to see any gray areas or the complexity of the situation.
- totally individualistic approach.
- inappropriate time frames.
- demanding and confrontational approach
- tendency not to share the glory.
- their willingness to pass the blame.
High I to another High I
The high I may be frustrated by another high I's:
- opinions on issues that can range from serious to light hearted.
- Competition for recognition
- inappropriate use of humor as values differ.
- over selling each other.
- Inappropriate use of time
- need for attention.
- failure to follow up on promised details.
High I to a Low I
The High I will be frustrated by the low I's:
- lack of enthusiasm and ability to convince others of the value of an activity.
- pessimistic attitude of the low I
- lack of sensitivity shown by low I toward people problems.
- desire to tear a project apart and not just sell it and move forward.
- lack of trust shown by low I's
Low I to a High I
The Low I is frustrated by the high I's:
- over verbalizing their abilities and pushing their way of thinking
- being overly optimistic
- being overly trusting without documentation
-overly optimistic approach to the time frames needed for problem solving
- underestimate of the problem and over estimate of the results.
- lack of trust in fact and data.
- inability to get touch with people.
-their phony enthusiasm for projects.
- ability to switch sides of an issue.
- the tendency of the high I to wing it, to not be organized
- the waste of time on relationship building and verbalization that it entails.
- their inconsistency in reaching conclusions.
High S to High S
Each other can be frustrated by:
- trusting that the other will support you when you need them.
- different routines can cause conflict because both are slow to change.
- possessiveness of things and information
- holding grudge over past differences.
- failure to confront each other when feelings have been hurt.
- asking for help with discussions and not getting any.
High S to a Low S
The high S may be frustrated by the low S's:
- since of urgency that may not even relate to the situation.
- willingness to share to much information with too many people.
- impatience for results.
- expansion of the project.
- new and different ways of solving the problem.
-view of seniority and loyalty.
-inability to listen and follow through
-ability to move from one phase to another phase quickly may be very frustrating to a high S.
Low S to High S
The low S may be frustrated by the high S's:
-inability to deal with change.
-inability to see the big picture
-lack of participation (unwillingness to share)
High C to High C
The high C may be frustrated by another high C's:
-may be detached unless the conversation centers on personal interests.
- strong beliefs in person position.
- hurt feelings when the other makes unwanted criticism.
- by their need for solitude.
- they look for hidden meaning behind what the other is saying
- the refusal to deal with the difficult issues.
- different interpretation of the facts.
HIGH C TO LOW C
The high C may be frustrated by the low C's:
- inability to get organized.
- lack of attention to details, concentration, and orientation.
-desire to see only the big picture, not all of the parts.
- desire to go their own way and to be evaluated on results, not how they did it.
-desire to take too many risks and to do things that have not really been checked out.
- lack of documentation.
- lack of social tact and diplomacy.
- rebellious nature and desire for excitement
- lack of fear of the consequence of their decisions and actions.
- defiant nature.
LOW C TO A HIGH C
The Low C may be frustrated by the high C's:
- constraints that curtail creativity.
- need for too much documentation
-the desire to go over every little detail
- not having a open mind.
- careful nature of the high C
- need for perfection and fear of making any mistakes.
- sharing of worries and concerns too frequently.
- overly diplomatic approach.
- being more concerned with the procedure then the results.
FRUSTRATION ACROSS FACTORS
HIGH D TO HIGH I
The high D may frustrate a high I because:
- the D is too concerned with results
HIGH D TO HIGH S
The high D may frustrate a high S by:
- not taking enough time to listen
HIGH D TO HIGH C
The high D may frustrate a high C by:
- being so quick to move
HIGH I TO HIGH D
The high I may frustrate a high D by:
- being too emotional and being too concerned with people over results
HIGH I TO HIGH S
The high I may frustrate a high S by:
- the lack of depth
HIGH I TO HIGH C
The high I may frustrate a high C by:
- the lack of attention to detail and being compulsive
HIGH S TO HIGH D
The high S may frustrate a high D by:
- engaging in too much small talk.
HIGH S TO HIGH I
The high S may frustrate a high I by:
- their apparent lack of quickness and lack of emotion
HIGH S TO HIGH C
The high S may frustrate a high C by:
- not being more warm and close.
HIGH C TO HIGH D
The high C may frustrate a high D by:
- their slow and methodical pace and
- their over attention to detail.
HIGH C TO HIGH I
The high C may frustrate a high I by:
- their attention to detail and their lack of people concerns.
HIGH C TO HIGH S
The high C may frustrate a high S by:
- not letting them know how they feel.
HIGH C TO HIGH C
The high C may frustrate a high C by:
- their desire to be more correct than the other person.
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN FACTORS
Common characteristics between the D and the I
Both are fast acting and high risk
Common characteristics between the I and the S
Both are imprecise concerning the use of time.
both are warm and close.
Common characteristics between the S and the C
Both are slow to react and are low risk takers
Common characteristics between the D and the C
Both are precise about the use of time.
Both are cool and distant.