Basic
Premise:
An
old saying teaches us great wisdom - if the only tool
you have is a hammer you will begin to think that every
thing is a nail. Even though we are very comfortable with
the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, we have found that our
work is greatly enhanced by having several other frameworks
for understanding the human dynamics of the workplace.
But
recently we have become familiar with a relatively new
instrument called the Strength Deployment Inventory®
or SDI®. We have developed several workshops and presented
them to some of our long-term clients. Without exception,
they tell us that, when coupled with their knowledge of
the MBTI, the SDI is providing them with remarkable insights
and dramatically improved team effectiveness - especially
in dealing with interpersonal or systemic conflicts.
As the MBTI was developed on a theory - the Theory of
Psychological Type developed by Carl Gustav Jung - so
the SDI is also developed on a theory, in this case Relationship
Awareness® Theory developed by Erich Fromm, who, like
Jung, was great influenced by the thinking of Sigmund
Freud. A psychologist by the name of Elias Porter took
Fromm's theory and designed a very clever questionnaire
- just 20 questions, which can be taken on line or manually
- which give you an indication of your fundamental Motivational
Value System. Obviously, if you are seeking to motivate
yourself or others in the workplace, knowing the most
fundamental values can be incredibly helpful.
Furthermore,
the exact same questionnaire - those twenty questions
-also give you an indication of the sequence by which
you generally address conflict. In has been eye-opening
to work teams to realize that we tend to approach conflict
in different patterns…..and then to use that awareness
to make us more tolerant of one another.
These
insights have not only worked in team settings. On a number
of occasions we have been asked to work with conflicts
between two individuals in the workplace - either two
peers or a boss and a subordinate. The interventions have,
without exception, made major contributions to these relationships,
even salvaging those that were headed toward terminations.
As
is typical of Bill Roberts, once he began to see the deep
value of this instrument, he immediately went back to
the original writings of Erich Fromm to understand how
his thinking developed. In October of 2005, Bill is giving
a presentation at a conference called Relationship Awareness,
2005. His paper is entitled "The Theoretical Roots
of the MBTI and the SDI." For a few comments on this
paper you might want to look ahead to the section on this
site dealing with LECTURES.
For
more information about the SDI, please go to www.personalstrengths.com
Strength
Deployment Inventory, SDI, Relationship Awareness and
the Three Arrow Inverted Triangle logo are registered
trademarks of Personal Strengths Publishing, Inc.
