A Lesson in Communications
The gist of it was that folks can be divided into four categories (like many of these theories), based on a few criteria. We ranked ourselves on the grid based on how emotional (outgoing versus cold and guarded) and, well, I guess I'd say our social style and risk taking (more likely to ask others about themselves and low in risk taking versus more like to tell people about stuff and more willing to take risks). The grid is below:
A quick summary of each type:
Analytical - low risk taker, needs to know all the facts before making a decision, can't be rushed, socially more likely to listen to others than talk about themselves.
Driver - high risk taker, aggressive, tells stories and tells people what to do, emotionally guarded and distant.
Amiable - low risk taker, emotionally open, likes consensus, genuinely interested in making social connections rather than being in charge.
Expressive - high risk taker, emotionally open, wants to collaborate, relies on intuition rather than facts and data.
I ended up being an Expressive, albeit it a moderate one. I think it's pretty accurate. We had very few Amiables (probably because it was a room full of managers and supervisors), a few more Analyticals, a pretty big group of Expressives and so many Drivers that, when we did a little exercise, they had to be broken up into two groups.
I don't believe we really have that many Drivers. While it was a group of managers, I think a few of them were Analyticals and Expressives with Driver envy. Several of us discussed (argued) that topic afterwards.
For example, Sugar Daddy says he's a Driver. I think he's an Expressive though he's winning me over to his point of view. My buddy, T, is totally an Analytical but he thinks he's a Driver at work and an Analytical at home. I think I'm an Expressive at work and an Amiable outside but Sugar Daddy emphatically told me I was wrong. Hence, the fact that he's convincing me that he's a Driver.
Besides discovering what we are, we learned about everyone's backup modes. Backup modes are what you do when you're pushed. They aren't pretty.
For Analyticals, they first Avoid and, if pushed further, they become Autocratic.
For Drivers, they first become Autocratic then Avoid.
For Amiables, the Acquiesce then Attack.
For Expressives, they Attack then Acquiesce. Yep, that's pretty much me. It does take a lot to tick me off, but when you do I will come back at you. If you keep pushing, I end up saying "Whatever" and getting out of the situation/conversation.
It was a good exercise and an eye-opener. Hopefully, we can carry the lesson into our day to day interactions and make them a little smoother and more effective.
