Day 91: Personalities

"Positive Personality Profiles" by Robert A. Rohm, PhD. is a book about personalities (well, that was a Mr. Obvious statement!). There are a number of ways to name & divide personalities, he chooses the DISC method. I don't think the DISC method is unique to him, but he has made it his speciality.

You can check out his site here.

I wasn't crazy about Rohm's style of writing, but I loved the information. I wanted to understand personalities better before I tried to understand style based on personalities.

I won't do his book justice, but basically, he divides personalities into 4 types (which, I think is rather common). Each type has a letter associated with it (thus DISC).

Imagine a circle that has been divided in half (with the dividing line being horizontal). The upper half is someone who is outgoing, the bottom half is someone who is reserved.

Then take another circle that has been divided in half, but this time the dividing line is vertical. The left side is someone who is task oriented, the right half is someone who is people oriented.

If you put the two circles together you get DISC!
D is the upper left: outgoing/task oriented
I is the upper right: outgoing/people oriented
S is the lower right: reserved/people oriented
C is the lower left: reserved/task oriented.

(if this doesn't make sense, check out his website...he has visuals).

He asserts that we have a little of all 4 types, but will be strong in two of them. He prefers to focus on two instead of one because he asserts it is rare for a person to be extremely strong in one type. (hope that made sense).

Basically, what this system did for me is see how I relate to other people. If I am an "I" type person than it is easy for me to get along with "D" types because we are both outgoing. I can also get along easy with "S" type people because we are both people oriented. I would have the hardest time with "C" type people because they are my true opposites. As an "I", I am outgoing/people oriented and a "C" is a reserved/task oriented person. Not any common ground (well, since both my son & I are a mixture of types, we do have common ground...I have some "C" qualities in me...yeah, the three I listed for my son are the 3 I want/need for myself).

There is not a test in the book, but a lot of descriptions (too many for me, actually). He also gives great examples from the Bible...which I thought was very cool. Made me think of my personality as God-given instead of something flukie.

Steve and I are not complete opposites, but he is a task oriented person and I am a people oriented person. My son is task oriented which is why we butt heads a lot. My son just doesn't get why I do what I do or why I ask him to do what I need him to do. I think he is a "C". And I think I am an "I". Yep, true opposites. His big need is comfort, control and choices. I am striving to be more aware of that.

Overall? This book is worth reading - you gain a good sense of you & those that you live & work with daily, it also ties it back to the Scriptures & God (which I like) & helps you see yourself as a true child of God.

On the website there is an opportunity to do some free assessments/worksheets, but also a more in depth analysis which you can pay for.