September 21st, 2009 | 
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Successful managers work like coaches, assessing each person?s strengths and weaknesses and developing the best strategy to get the job done. The 4-Dimensional Manager shows how managers can become more effective by using the DiSC system. ?DiSC? stands for four communication styles: Dominance (direct and decisive); Influence (optimistic and outgoing); Supportive (sympathetic and cooperative); and Conscientious (concerned and correct). In the book?s first part, readers assess th…
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Tags: Best, Different, Dimensional, Disc, Manager, Managing, People, Strategies, Ways
During my MBA schooling time, i got introduced to MBTI, a personality test, and i am very much interested. But it is not “that easy” to teach and implement, people find it difficult to remember. Than a friend introduces the DISC concept to me. Upon browsing the amazon pages, i finally bought this book (and some others). And i found it pretty useful and serve my purpose as a simple behavior analysis tools for business success.
I have since used DISC approach to train people in Salesmanship and Managerial Leadership program. I found it very acceptable by laymen and they can benefit from the insight.
Popular applicable psychology is gaining more and more momentum and become more widely used in business. The root of this type of analysis started from the Greek 2000+ years ago with Sanguine, Choleric, Phhlegmatic and Melancholic.
The original form of this DISC apporoach comes from William Moulton Marston 1926 book Emotions of Normal People.
There are similar materials come in many form: COLOR CODE (HARTMAN), Personality Plus, and several other books.
This is not to replace all the more-in-depth psychology tools that profesional use, but this is a simple approach to see different type of people and how we can be more effective in fast forwarding ourselves. We can also see others and learn how to make them better in their works.
The book contains a simple test and the description of every type and the combination of types. It is very well written and accurate. Although i feel a bit “dry” on the style of writing, i am totally satisfied and find the book of a very high value.
This is not a dense reading, and you can jump forth and back and see your/other people’s type of personality and use it to our advantages.
Anyone interested on how to “see” him/herself and the other and how to make best use of psychological approach toward different type of people will be able to benefit from this book.
This book is based on the DiSC model – one that says people approach a situation from one of four possible “styles”-
D = Dominance – Eager to take charge and take action
I = Influence – Socializes and tries to build consensus based on what others feel
S = Supportiveness – Will support/help anyone, but does not show initiative, lacks self-confidence
C = Conscientiousness – detail oriented to a fault, suffers from analysis paralysis, perfectionist
One way this book is inconsistent is that it the early chapters it makes it clear that people shouldn’t be labeled with a style, since everyone can respond with any style, depending on the situation. In fact, it states that:
When one feels one is in an unfavorable situation, but that one has power to act, one uses “D”
When one feels one is in a favorable situation, and that one has power to act, one uses “I”
When one feels one is in a favorable situation, but that one has no power to act, one uses “S”
When one feels one is in an unfavorable situation, and that one has no power to act, one uses “C”
But many people will answer those questions consistently based on whether they are optimistic or not, and whether they have self-confidence or not. Starting in chapter six, the book also begins to label people making generalizations about how to manage each type of person.
It begins to sound a bit like Marcus Buckingham’s “Strengths” books (which I recommend instead of this book), saying your style is your strength and you should often play to it. But based on the definitions, it would seem like better advice would be how to reframe the situation to apply a more appropriate style. For example, in most high-risk situations, one needs to respond more like a “C” than anything else. Unfortunately in no part of this book did it talk about reframing the situation to encourage a style that would fit better. About the closest it came, was suggesting that some assignments are geared more for certain types (again, contradicting the earlier premise of not labeling people).
The book is short and very good. It basically outlines common different behavioral models and focuses on the best approach to communicate with people belonging to each model profile.
Of course it all revolves around your willing to adapt your style when dealing with others, especially if you manage a team.
So try to put these suggestions in practise otherwise it remains only an interesting leisure book.