March, 2011

The Recovering Engineer

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A Simple Model for Understanding What Drives Behavior

The Recovering Engineer

The diagram above shows a simplified model for better understanding what drives behavior. Since people often spend their lives studying and understanding what really drives our behavior, I am pretty confident that I cannot hope to fully cover the topic in this short post. I can provide a quick overview you can use to diagnose what’s happening in your interactions with other people and how you might be able to modify your approaches to get better results, have more fun, experience more sati

FAQ 269
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Using the DISC Model: Focus on Needs More than Behaviors

The Recovering Engineer

The DISC Model of Human Behavior is, as the name implies, about behavior. And, to apply it well, I suggest looking beyond behavior to the needs behind the behavior to really use it to connect and communicate with other people more effectively. To illustrate the point, consider the refrigerator shown above. While this one has no food in it, I imagine you can think of a time when you opened a refrigerator door to check the contents.

FAQ 243
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You Cannot Punish People into Good Behavior

The Recovering Engineer

In a recent post, I presented a simple model for understanding what drives our behavior. According to the model, punishments (negative or unpleasant consequences) can reduce the likelihood that a behavior will repeat in the future. This observation implies that leaders can hope to eliminate “bad&# behaviors by using punishment and discipline strategies.

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Count Your Blessings

The Recovering Engineer

Bad stuff happens to everyone. We all face illness, the death of loved ones, financial crises, job setbacks, relationship challenges, and mechanical malfunctions. All of them are real, and all of them can breed frustration. When faced with these events, we often view them only in the negative context, and we ask the question: “Why me?&#. Recently, I read a quote by the great tennis player Arthur Ashe : If I were to say, “God, why me?

Energy 119
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Be Kind

The Recovering Engineer

What a simple concept, and it is so often violated. It does not seem that being kind should be difficult. Yet, I see examples of unkindness all around me. Parents yelling at their kids. Kids ignoring their parents. Bosses interrupting employees. Employees gossiping about their boss. People cutting each other off in traffic. Customers getting impatient with store employees.

Stress 111
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Why I Use The DISC Model

The Recovering Engineer

People frequently ask me why I use the DISC model in my work. Today, I’ll offer some of my reasons. I use the DISC model because: It is simple enough that… I can work with someone for only a few minutes and help them gain perspective they have never seen before. I can use it to help me when I am tired, stressed or angry. I don’t need assessment results to understand another person.

FAQ 230