DataDome Blog

It’s the classic maxim that we all grew up with, the proverbial Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” however, does it always apply?  If we are all individuals and we all have different communication and behavioral styles then perhaps what works for me might not go over so well with you.

What if we were to rethink this idea and turn it into “Treat people not as you want to be treated, but instead, as they want to be treated”?  This opens up a more expansive and empathetic idea, and if we look at the diversity of interaction styles that we can recognize through our study of DISC profiles then it is possible to adapt our communication approach to better serve the preferences of someone who is likely to have a different behavioral profile than ourselves.

To further explore these ideas you may like to read Art Schoeck’s article: Adapting the Golden Rule for Better Communication

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We’re very proud of our founder and CEO – Arthur Schoeck has been given one of the top honors in his industry: He has been appointed to The International Faculty.  TTI created The International Faculty in 2004 as an elite  group of professionals in the business consulting, coaching and training industry. International Faculty members are hand-selected leaders in their field and each brings a unique expertise to the Faculty. From every corner of the globe, they collaborate to provide global organizations with timely solutions that surpass the challenges of geographical boundaries.

When asked to comment Art Schoeck replied, “It is a privilege to be accepted as a peer amongst such distinguished experts.”

For more information visit Data Dome’s Awards page.

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Congratulations to our founder!

Data Dome’s own founder and CEO, Arthur Schoeck, was recently honored again for the second year consecutive year by Target Training International (TTI) as the recipient of the Chairman’s Award for Services to the Community at the TTI Winners’ Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Echoing last year, TTI presented the award to Schoeck for his continued dedication to community service initiatives. Schoeck has offered his time and expertise to mentor college students, helping them identify their skills and behavioral styles and guide them toward alignment with their career goals.

For more information visit Data Dome’s Awards page.

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It seems that everywhere you look these days there is a lot more emphasis on understanding our behaviors and how they influence numerous fields of study. From economics and buying behaviors to drives and motivations in the workplace, we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what the science and study of behavior can teach us.

Take for instance Daniel Ariely’s book, Predictably Irrational – Ariely puts forth an entertaining, often humorous, introduction to the field of behavioral economics and sheds lights on some of the stranger things we do depending on the situations we’re placed in – like why we might like vinegar in our beer if we try it before we’re told it’s there, but almost always dislike if we’re told it’s there first.  Ariely seems to spend much time in the field comparing patterns of behavior from one group to another to make blanket, statistical conclusions of how we will predict in similar scenarios.

Aubrey Daniels’ book Oops! 13 Management Practices That Waste Time & Money also examines behaviors in a business context, but here frames the discussion around common management tools and practices that don’t actually produce the desired results. Daniels explores a spectrum of positive and negative reinforcers that influence (or fail to influence) performance.  A full palette of near and long-term views, certain and uncertain rewards and punishments and our reactions to them become the foundation for advising businesses how to get practical performance improvements.

Somewhere between these two books lies Drive by Daniel Pink.  Pink posits that there are 3 iterations of motivational “operating systems” that humans have evolved. Motivation 1.0 is based on basic, animalistic needs, drives to survive and procreate and not much else. Motivation 2.0 represents the fabled carrot and stick – using rewards and punishments to encourage desired behaviors and discourage unwanted ones.  Motivation 3.0 has just begun to take root – an understanding that humans are governed by both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.  Some things we do for passion and intellectual curiosity, other things we do for money, or to avoid being fired. As our world gets more complicated and our tasks more intellectually sophisticated so too does the complexity of our motivational drives. But Pink contends that as Motivation 3.0 is better understood we will see new paradigms in the workplace.

All three of these books offer fascinating perspectives on how we behave, how predictable we can be, and how to reevaluate motivational strategies. However, all of these books tend to lump human behavior together with little granularity regarding natural styles.  Pink does put forth the idea of Type I’s and Type X’s to connote persons more intrinsically or extrinsically motivated, while Ariely and Daniels tend to pay more attention to the external circumstances and stimuli and their impact on an entire group rather than the individual’s. It would be fascinating to explore all of these concepts through the lens of DISC and the study of Passions & Priorities to provide other vectors for understanding individual’s reactions and behavioral dispositions rather than just focusing on cumulative results.  There are excellent tools already available like Workplace Motivators which were specifically designed to analyze and define the very factors that mesh so well with Pink’s definition of Motivation 3.0.

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It happens a lot in this world of assessments and behavioral information, the high side of the scale seems to get all the press.  We spotlight the characteristics of the high D, we round up discussion samples of high I’s, S’s and C’s, but the low end of the scale is no less meaningful than the high end.   A low D, I, S, or C is just as indicative of behavioral style as are  their high counterparts.  So for today, here’s a little attention to the low D.

You might be a low D if…

• you always drive in the right lane
• when you and someone else step into a line at the same time you tend to let the other person go first
• your friends describe you as someone who “goes with the flow”
• you’re the one who holds the elevator’s “open” button while waiting for everyone else to get out. You might be an even lower D if you’re the one who stays in the back of the elevator and tells the person holding the door to go ahead.
• you’ve never asked for a raise
• you usually wait for others to stop talking before you join the conversation

Remember even people whose behavior in one quadrant is at the top of the high or at the bottom of the low is still also exhibiting a range of behaviors measurable in the other 3 quadrants. Further, motivations and environmental influences can significantly impact circumstantial behavior.  None of us are “one-trick ponies” when it comes to our behavioral styles.

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Happy Holidays!

Well hopefully by now you’ve done your holiday shopping and are ready to relax and enjoy the rest of the season. While you were out there roaming the malls and the big box retail stores (assuming you didn’t do all your shopping online this year) you may have noticed some classic DISC behavioral styles during your people-watching…

Did you spot the Highest D in the crowd? The assertive High D will move powerfully through the crowd. Practically knocking people over! They are efficient shoppers: in, out, done. If the whole scene is too frustrating and anger-producing (crowds, waiting in line, traffic and parking), they may simply delegate the shopping to someone else. The actual gifts the High D buys might just be to address a bottom-line productivity improvement for the recipient or they might simply take the efficient route and give gift certificates.

How about the Highest I? For the High I, shopping is an event. Like a kid in a candy shop, the High I gets excited about the experience of being out and about and shopping. While you were taking a break at the food court you may have seen them holding forth in an animated way near a glittering display. They probably met friends for coffee or snacks to make an occasion of the shopping expedition. If you’re a salesperson watch for the High I – a high I might get frustrated if you don’t give enough attention. The High I will also often buy from emotion, so that extra attention might lead them to buy more than they should. High I’s may accidentally buy more than one gift for some people, and forget to get gifts for others. They may buy gifts they like themselves, assuming that the recipients will like them too. There will be impulse buys, and trendy (even risky) selections. The gifts may be chosen out of shared experiences, and to provide experiences: party and hospitality gear, bed and bath, candles and music.

Did the Highest S get lost in the crowd? You might not see them if the mall is really busy. They certainly don’t like being caught in a last-minute rush. In fact by now all of their shopping is probably done – of course, the High S may have started picking out holiday presents in July! The High S at the mall can be found at the same trusted stores they habitually frequent. The gifts they choose will be solid, reliable favorites, not risky or trendy in any way. High S’s may well prefer to stay home and make personalized gifts, or bake holiday treats for family and friends.

And what about the Highest C? If you saw them at the mall they were likely to be doing research and comparison shopping for purchases that they were then going to make online so they will be sure they are getting both the highest quality and the lowest price. If they are purchasing at the mall (rather than online), it will be in the specialty shops. If they go to a department store, you’ll see them reading labels and decoding the actual terms of the sales coupon. If they engage a salesperson it will be to inquire about scheduling shipping, the details of the return policy or other factual information. High C’s might get bogged down in the details of weighing the relative merits of the mail-in rebate versus the instant rebate, the cost of the warranty versus the percentage of likely future repairs.

Don’t forget these are just the Highs – the Low D, I, S, and C are out there too, and most people aren’t just “one note” – any of the D, I, S or C factors can resonate with another as a behavioral cluster in the same person, but this “broad-strokes” exercise might help you to appreciate (and adapt to) the differences among us as we all prepare for holiday occasions.

Best wishes for the holidays from Art and the Data Dome team!

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One of the most pivotal times in the development of a business is that moment when the entrepreneur chooses to go to the next level: to build an organization. It is a time to remember that many of the habits that were so beneficial initially – pioneering, big-picture thinking, risk-taking, forging ahead no matter the obstacles, doing anything and everything it takes to make it go – may now need to be balanced by other skills and energies to create an effective and successful team.

Stepping back and adjusting focus on making the right hires, however, could be an uncomfortable change of pace from the forging ahead full steam pattern you’ve been living. Your pioneering ways may have gotten you off the ground, but it is a strong team that will take you further, and to build one you must recognize that interviewing, training, and developing relationships will take time and effort.

The key to growth is defining who you really need and then finding them, hiring, them and keeping them. But there are pitfalls everywhere. Too often, when first expanding, entrepreneurs will set out to find copies of themselves: persons as energetic, dynamic, willing and risk-taking as they are. They might be duplicating their strengths, but they are then not compensating for their weaknesses.

It is easy to understand the tendency to hire people like yourself: you communicate easier, you tend to motivate similarly, but it can be a trap. Your business needs are not satisfied by duplicating yourself, but rather by complementing your skills and behaviors – a pattern that has worked well for “Yin and Yang” pairs like Bernard Marcus & Arthur Blank, William Hewlett & Dave Packard, Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak – different styles bringing different strengths together to grow their companies from humble beginnings.

Take the time needed to define each position on your new team. No skimping. Strategic planning is useless if you don’t find the right people to execute your gameplan. Finding people with the technical skills is relatively easy: resume, references, etc. The soft skills are a different matter, and are actually more important.

There are great tools available today to match the soft skills of the person with the soft skills appropriate for the job. You can go a step further and motivate each new member of your team by identifying their passions in life; their values, and making sure that between their work and time away from work, they can fulfill those passions.

It takes time to find the right people, more time to train them, and even more time to listen to, adjust and motivate them; but, the rewards are unparalleled. So often the new entrepreneur takes too long to realize that simple replication is not a growth plan, control tactics work only in the short term, and turnover just plain hurts. Performance and productivity are greatly enhanced only when the entrepreneur lets go of one-style “do as I do” thinking and changes to a focus on building teams of complementary behaviors.

Remember: people are the number one resource of a company.

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Busy professionals with a strong desire to achieve sometimes fall into slumps, which can destroy creative drive. Do your best to avoid these slumps by accepting that you cannot do everything. Delegate responsibilities to others qualified to perform the task. They should share your goals for success.

• Be a lifetime learner. Don’t assume you’ve learned all you need to know. Have a plan for personal growth and work on challenging goals in all areas of your life.
• Be proactive. Solve problems before they occur. Carefully plan procedures to prevent problems and proper handling in the event they do happen.
• Communicate your goals. Let others know how they can help you achieve them. Listen carefully to information they provide you.

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Real leadership inspires voluntary commitment, not just grudging compliance. Here are a few tips for dealing with stress behaviors.

1. Identify and be aware of your own stress behaviors. Don’t contribute to the problem.
2. Acknowledge the stress behavior. We all have rough days – give the benefit of the doubt.
3. Avoid “pushing the behavioral style buttons” of a person exhibiting stress behavior (see above).
4. Adapt your own behavioral style to that of others, with behaviors that meet the needs of those you lead. Don’t lead like you would want to be led. Lead like they want to be led.
5. Identify elements in the work environment that can be adjusted to minimize style-based stress sources.

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They can talk…but can they sell?

Many more can talk than can sell. Did you ever hire someone because they sounded so great – presented so well – you thought they could do anything? But six months later, you’re tired of hearing how great they sound, you just want some results?

Why? What went wrong? To answer completely, there are two areas that need to be addressed:

• Behavioral Style
• Knowledge of Selling

Behavioral style refers to the behavioral elements of selling a particular product for a particular company to a particular client base. These elements include:

• aggressiveness
• cold-call reluctance
• extroversion
• multi-tasking
• rules compliance
• natural enthusiasm
• self starting tendencies
• servicing
• paperwork
• tendency to detail
• product information
• customer relations
• consistency
• follow-up and follow-through
• tendency to listen.

It takes a very different style to sell computer parts directly to computer engineers than it does to sell computers to the general public. Similarly, to close the sale to a low-key, easy-going, family-oriented type
buyer requires considerably different style than closing the same merchandise to a fast-talking, hurried, bottom-line oriented buyer.

By analyzing what you’re selling, who you are selling for, and who you are selling to, a company today can articulate the customized behaviors optimum for their situation. Salespeople can then be hired whose natural behaviors are ideally what you are looking for. Those salespeople who are not exactly ‘natural’ in these behaviors will nevertheless benefit tremendously from understanding just what behaviors are best to role-play, or emulate, to excel for your company.

Knowledge of Selling is totally different than one’s behavioral selling style. You may have the right personality style – the right mix of extroversion, aggressiveness, empathy, etc. – but do you know what to do and say in the selling cycle: when to ask for the close, when to remain silent, what strategy to use, and when to use it.

Most sales training programs, in effect, give technical training, but very little in the art of selling. Likewise, the tools for measuring these Sales Skills are different. What are the best things to do and when?

These elements include how to:

• Prospect
• Qualify
• Probe
• Impress
• Demonstrate
• Influence
• Close

Make Adjustments: To communicate more effectively with a customer, you may be required to adjust your natural behavioral style. These adjustments may cause stress or require additional energy. “Pumping up” to get more motivated and enthusiastic than one normally feels requires focus and energy.

On the other hand, stress occurs when the results-driven aggressive salesperson has to slow down, listen more and show patience to slower-reacting people. That is why sales knowledge – knowing exactly what to do – is extremely helpful to minimize the extra stress or energy required to adjust behavioral style. Advantages include shortening the sales cycle, reducing stress and closing sales more often!

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