The SDI is a powerful and effective tool for understanding and influencing the motives that drive behaviours. The SDI plays off people’s basic need to better understand themselves and others, and that understanding allows them to lead with clarity and empathy, build stronger teams, and more effectively navigate conflict.

Starting With the Why

While many tools focus on what we do, the SDI goes deeper and helps us understand why we and others behave the way we do.

The results reflect people’s experiences of themselves – they actually see themselves in the charted data. But they also don’t feel pigeonholed, because the SDI allows for the reality that people are different (even when they are similar) and react differently in different situations. Today’s workforce is more and more diverse, so it’s critical to understand how differences impact our interactions. The SDI provides a base for understanding who we are and what motivates us, and it provides the same insights into others.

These insights are particularly beneficial during the stages of conflict. The SDI is a “dual-state instrument,” meaning it shows the degree and nature of changes from the things-are-going-well state to the conflict state.

Charting What Matters

The SDI helps people relate to one of seven Motivational Value Systems (MVS) and one of thirteen Conflict Sequences. Each individual’s MVS is represented by a dot on a colour-coded triangle, and their Conflict Sequence is represented by an arrowhead that shows how their motives typically change during the stages of conflict. And people who work together can see their results plotted in the context of their group.

This picture of personality makes it easier for people to understand the results and talk about them. The SDI provides a common and memorable language that guides people toward greater understanding and interpersonal effectiveness.

By experiencing the SDI, people can identify their motivational values, not just their behaviours. Conflict and motivational values are closely related, because people are more likely to go into conflict over things that are important to them – a critical insight in today’s high-change business environments.

What Sets It Apart

The SDI is a powerful tool for all levels of an organisation. The critical insights it provides enable leaders and team members to better understand how to influence people who think, behave, and communicate differently.

As jobs become more complex and strategic, social and emotional competencies have become key differentiators for success, particularly for leaders. As people are promoted to more senior roles, their performance is measured not only on bottom-line results, but also on how they manage their relationships with key stakeholders.

The SDI helps leaders at all levels focus on how they communicate and work with one another and how they use individual and team strengths in light of their business needs. The result is reduced conflict and increased collaboration and trust, building productive work relationships for sustainable results.

Here are some ways the SDI produces results:

• It measures motives. The science behind the art creates an accurate picture of what’s important to us – going beyond behaviours to reveal our individual motivations. And very few people disagree with their assessment results, which means they buy into the picture of who they are and what drives them so they can begin to work within that reality.
• It’s bi-conditional. The SDI measures the motives behind the behaviours when conditions are going well and when conditions involve the different stages of conflict. By helping people understand what matters to people and why, and by providing a safe, common language for discussing tough issues, the SDI provides a non-threatening way to deal with conflict.
• It strengthens a weakness. The SDI provides insight into the unique way we value different strengths and interpret the actions of others. This helps us recognise those times when we need to use different behaviours based on the conditions, our motives, and the motives that are driving others.
• It’s a system of its own. The insights that come from the SDI are crucial to improving any situation where people interact. And the SDI seamlessly integrates relationship and conflict management skills into nearly any training and development programme – team building, leadership development, emotional intelligence, you name it. In other words, it’s designed for human systems and organisational systems.
• It’s memorable. The simple triangle graphic and the use of primary colours make this a highly visual, easy to understand tool. And by using experiential teaching methods, anyone can quickly internalise the learning. And because it creates a common language for understanding and discussing motives and relationships, the training is highly sustainable.
• It depersonalises conflict. Opposition is healthy, but conflict is unproductive. By helping people understand what matters to others and why, and by providing a safe, common language for discussing tough issues, the SDI provides a non-threatening way to deal with conflict.
• It honours differences. The SDI provides insight into the unique way we value different strengths and interpret the actions of others.

Paper or Digital Versions

The SDI is available online or in paper versions. The paper editions are not tech dependant for the participants, can be scored by a facilitator at an event, and can be easily uploaded to produce paper or online reports.

The assessment produces a four-page report for the facilitator summarising the results of the class and a 20-page personalised report for the participant that provides an overview of the results and key concepts, along with insights and information specific to the participant’s results.

Our most common behaviours are the strengths we use to navigate situations with other people, whether that’s in a one-on-one conversation with a co-worker, a team meeting, or while interacting with an important client. The Strengths Portrait provides an accurate picture of how we prioritise those strengths, and this helps us better pick the right strengths for any given situation.

The Narrative of Strengths

The Strengths Portrait tells a story of 28 strengths, or behaviours, that people value and commonly use when they interact with each other. The assessment provides an opportunity to rank the 28 strengths to produce a picture of a person’s most and least important ways of relating to other people. This sets the stage for understanding how using different behaviours can help achieve better results.

The strengths measured for this portrait aren’t technical skills, but the actions people choose when trying to reach a goal for themselves, others, and their organisation.

Ranking the 28 different behaviours provides a snapshot of how people apply their strengths when interacting with others. People who share similar SDI results often prioritise their strengths differently. The portrait helps people understand that even though we may be motivated by the same things, we often use different behaviours to reach our intended outcomes. It helps people explore the connections between their motives and how they choose their strengths when working with others.

People tend to rely on the strengths they prioritise at the top of their portrait and avoid the ones they place at the bottom. This can lead to using strengths that aren’t effective or to overusing certain strengths, which often is counter-productive and can lead to conflict.

The Strengths Portrait is an ideal tool for defining individual strengths and for defining the strengths of a team or group culture. Along with the SDI, it enables people to personally reflect on the behaviours they use and the choices they make. By creating a picture of how they relate to others who are in their circles of influence, they make effective changes as they acquire new skills, insights, and perspectives.

Paper or Digital Versions

The Strengths Portrait is available online or in paper versions. The paper editions are not tech dependent for the participants, can be scored by a facilitator at an event, and can be easily uploaded to produce paper or online reports.

The assessment produces a three-page report for the facilitator summarising the results of the class and a 15-page personalised report for the participant that provides an overview of the results and key concepts, along with insights and information specific to the participant’s results.

Sometimes less is more and too much of a good thing is potentially damaging. Such is the case with the strengths we choose in relationships. The Overdone Strengths Portrait goes where most assessments don’t by addressing the mystery of weaknesses. It helps people discover the source of their unproductive behaviour so they can make crucial corrections. And it provides valuable insights into potential sources of conflict and the costs associated with overdoing or misapplying strengths.

Finding a Balance

The Overdone Strengths Portrait allows people to see how they use – and at times misuse – their strengths. A behaviour that’s well-intended can backfire when it’s perceived as a negative action because it’s overdone or used in the wrong situation.

For instance, you might have “Quick to Act” as one of your top strengths, and it may work great in many situations. In some situations and with certain people, however, you might be quick to act when others need you to be patient or cautious. If you consistently act without weighing the consequences, others might see you as rash.

Ranking 28 overdone strengths helps identify when and why strengths might result in unintended outcomes because they are perceived as overdone in frequency, duration, or intensity, or because they don’t fit the context of a situation. This portrait is extremely effective in creating opportunities to reflect on ways to change behaviours to achieve better results.

Paper or Digital Versions

The Overdone Strengths Portrait is available online or in paper versions. The paper editions are not tech dependant for the participants, can be scored by a facilitator at an event, and can be easily uploaded to produce paper or online reports.

The assessment produces a three-page report for the facilitator summarising the results of the class and a 7-page personalised report for the participant that provides an overview of the results and key concepts, along with insights and information specific to the participant’s results.

Disappointment often is nothing more than a side effect of misaligned expectations. Work doesn’t get done or it doesn’t get done well. Feelings are hurt. Relationships are damaged. Satisfaction in our work wanes. And, yet, we all live and work in a world that sets expectations. We expect things of ourselves and of others, and others expect things of us.

The Expectations Edition of the SDI and Strengths Portrait clarify relational expectations between people. Understanding differing expectations is an important and often overlooked part of measuring and managing satisfaction, personally and professionally. Differences in expectations often lead to conflict or dissatisfaction.

The Strengths Portrait Expectation Edition compares role expectations to individual strengths. It provides the opportunity for individuals and teams to rank the strengths they believe are required for success in a particular role.

This assessment doesn’t focus on specific goals or results; instead, it focuses on how people in roles or relationships can use their strengths most effectively. Most people have fairly clear ideas about what they should do and what results they should achieve in their roles. There are also expectations, however, about the ways people should interact while they are producing these results. The Strengths Portrait Expectations Edition helps to clarify these interpersonal expectations.

Most people fill more than one role – employee, manager, co-worker etc. Even within these roles, there can be different aspects. For example, a manager may find that there are different expectations for managing projects, making presentations to committees, conducting performance reviews, or working with customers. This assessment focuses on a specific role – they can pick that role or you can tell them which role they should use as they complete their portrait.

This Strengths Portrait produces a picture of the way someone believes they should prioritise and use their strengths in a role or relationship. When they compare it to their Strengths Portrait, they can create a plan to engage more fully and productively in their role.

The SDI Expectations Edition® helps clarify expectations in a specific role or relationship. Most people have fairly clear ideas, or role descriptions, about what they should do and what results they should achieve. They also have expectations about the ways people should interact while they are producing these results. And while poor results are disappointing, much of the dissatisfaction and conflict in the workplace comes from interactions that don’t meet expectations. The SDI Expectations Edition helps to clarify these interpersonal expectations, ideally before unspoken or misaligned expectations have a chance to cause harm.

This assessment provides an objective forum to get everyone’s expectations in the open and on paper so that they can be compared and discussed in a non-threatening and non-judgmental way. It helps people understand how their motives and strengths factor into the expectations that are a very real part of their work relationships. This understanding helps them make better decisions – decisions driven by their motives – and that leads to healthier relationships and more effective teams.

The SDI Expectations Edition can be used as a self-assessment for a person’s own role, as a feedback instrument, or even to set expectations of a vacant role. The results can help build consensus about expectations or reveal how to increase personal effectiveness and have a higher level of satisfaction in a situation or relationship.

The SDI Personalised Report is the most effective tool in the industry for helping leaders and teams understand and apply the valuable insights that come from their assessments. It’s flexible enough to embrace your branding and other communication needs, and the results are specific to each user, so they can quickly begin working toward solutions that apply directly to their work environment.

The SDI Personalised Report is unique in that it provides:

• A customisable cover. You can drop in your logo and adjust the title with messaging specific to your client.
• A 20-page report that’s thorough but not overwhelming.
• Charts, graphics, and explanations that are specific to each individual’s results.
• Examples and illustrations that help people of all learning styles understand their results and, most importantly, how to apply them in practical ways to get better results.
• Data and insights that easily integrate into whatever training programme you design.

Creating Personal Journeys to Effectiveness

The Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) empowers people to make better choices by helping them better understand themselves and everyone around them. It goes beyond the what that you find in most assessments and gets to the why that other assessments seldom address. The SDI Personalised Report provides detailed and customised information that explains the what and the why of each individual’s assessment results, as well as how to make the most of those results. It supports a journey of effectiveness that leads to:

• less conflict and quicker resolution to conflict when it occurs.
• increased collaboration and trust.
• more productive working relationships.
• more sustainable results.
• more effective teams.
• new skills, insights and perspectives.