How Can the Way I Assemble IKEA Furniture Actually Reveal My DISC Styles?

Would you believe that the way you prefer to put together a piece of IKEA furniture can reveal your DISC Style? And also can reveal how you prefer to accomplish a task? Special thanks to Extended DISC, Inc., for this example… which I find fascinating.

I am a BIG fan of IKEA, but my children who live in Brooklyn are absolutely ADDICTED! IKEA is very smart in utilizing every square inch of space… something definitely needed in NY! But beyond utilizing space, I love the vast array of options they present, but mostly the absolute delight in laying out all the pieces and ending up with a wonderful piece of furniture after relatively little effort.

In the same way, when I approach a task, I like to “lay out all the pieces” and work through the process step by step.

If you have ever put something together with someone else’s help, you may have noticed (if they are a different Style from you) that their preferred method of accomplishing the goal was quite different from yours. Likewise, when you have a task to do at work, if you are doing it with others, you may each have very different approaches to accomplishing that task.

In brief, here is the approach each DISC Style tends to use:

• D-Style: Doesn’t stop to read the instructions; “Instructions are for WIMPS!”; just get after it!
• I-Style: Has a party for the assembly process; invites lots of people over; serves refreshments
• S-Style: Does the step-by-step process; involves a friend or two; goes at it slow and steady
• C-Style: Reads all the instructions carefully first; lays everything out; puts the small pieces in separate bowls; must have QUIET and be able to FOCUS!

So the next time you or your family, friends or coworkers are wanting to put together IKEA furniture… or do anything requiring a process, I encourage you to pay attention to how you and they prefer to do it. It could be very enlightening! Understanding these differences can go a long way towards having a Fully Functioning Team.

Next week, we will focus on how we are all a combination of the DISC Styles and then see the way a graph is used to portray that combination. Then the next step is figuring out what is the best graph/combination for each role in our office. From there, we can discern where each person in our office should be and what role they should have. It is an amazing system with remarkable results that lead to a Fully Functioning Team of people who are excited to come to work!

QUESTION: Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve wanted to do the task very differently from those who were doing it with you? Does it make sense that this could reveal someone’s DISC Style? I’d love to hear your thoughts and observations. Please share with me in the comment section below.