Assessments Today

I love the Enneagram - Try this free verson out yourself

I have liked the Enneagram Explorations set of Enneacards Instinctual Subtypes for a number of years and like to use them as a "cards sort". Enjoy this mini free online version of theirs:

Assessment Network Community

I want to create the most comprehensive assessment networking community database available. I want this to be the go-to resource for professionals. And I need your help to do it. . .  so please take the three minutes to read this.

Over the last few months I've revamped the web site: http://www.AssessmentsHere.com and created resources that I would like and think others would too.  But really, am I on the right track?

What do YOU want?

1. What is the one thing related to assessments that I could create just for you, and offer to the community at no charge?
2. What is your biggest frustration when it comes to using assessments?
3. What would have to happen to make you want to participate in this network regularly?

 

UPDATE ON CHARTER MEMBERS 

You can still register as a Charter Member by clicking here:

Because we are off to a slow start and with my move to Paris, I have not dedicated the time to adding as much material as I had hoped. I have decided to extend the offer to join as a Charter Member until the end of this year. After that time, you will remain, as long as you would like, as a Charter Member.  New registrants will have similar privileges but will be considered regular community members.

What is new over at our portal of Assessments Here?

Well for starters I have changed the layout a little.  Also there are over 300 members in the community and we have managed to attract a prestigious group of practitioners.  Our experts are ready to share their expertise and the site is a location where ideas and data relating to ALL aspects of assessments is shared with members.  However, compared to other social networks, ours is very quiet.  Thus, I'm writing to ask that everyone who receives this note please take 5 minutes to contribute to the site.  We need your help with content, and we need more members.

I decided to extend the sign up for the free Charter Membership until the end of the year. More importantly, Charter Members will NOT be reverting back to regular members. . .  if you came on board at my start-up, I want to continue to reward you. So if you are still not a memmber - go over and sign up. It costs you nothing.

I am estending the sign up for Charter Members because I have not been able to load up as much material as I had hoped.  Most of my time has been spend moving to Paris (oh I know, poor me) and getting our new assessment platform, Assess Yourself fully operational.  There are now 15 Associates up and running.  I will be launching this as a new product introdcution next month and will keep you posted.  I have been asked if this will be set up as an Affiliate Program and yes it will. 

Please visit Assessments Here, and check out a few new short Asseessment Tip Videos that I hope you will enjoy. 

 

 

Check Out People Maps

I have been meaning to let you know about this site for sometime now. People Maps is a site for customised personality profiling.  I like their philosophy as can be seen in some of their videos and downloads.  Their particular tools are based on the work of Carl Jung.  The site is friendly, accessible and slick.  It has some great resources as well.

Another very nice feature if you like this sort of thing is that if you subscribe to their newsletter you will receive from PeopleMaps a free psychometric profile report to you courtesy of a wide range of sponsors.  They assure us that these will be absolutely free reports on everything from your personality and careers to dating, sports and even superheroes.  There will  be exclusive special offers and a range of articles digging deeper into the topics that have a direct impact on how you lead your life.  You don't have to do anything except  subscribe.

One of their divisions is Career Psychometrics and  they provided  quick short and free aseessments also based on the work of Carl Jung specifically geared to career development. They argue that career development planning begins with discovering what you were born to do. You need to know what you have a natural career aptitude for which is why you should complete this free personality test, sometimes referred to as a career aptitude test.

Here is the free widget that you too can put up on your own site or blog. Check it out.

Career Personality Test

Values Assessment Webinar

A couple of months ago, I conducted a webinar on an overview of values assessments based on the work of Edward Spranger and the work of Allport. There are seven dimensions of value that help explain the reasons that drive an individual to utilize their talents in the unique way they do. This Values Index will help clients understand their motivators and drivers and how to maximize performance by achieving better alignment and passion for what they do. The Online Values Assessment measures seven dimensions of motivation:

• Aesthetic – a drive for balance, harmony and form.
• Economic – a drive for economic or practical returns.
• Individualistic – a drive to stand out as independent and unique.
• Political – a drive to be in control or have influence.
• Altruistic – a drive for humanitarian efforts; help others altruistically.
• Regulatory – a drive to establish order, routine and structure.
• Theoretical – a drive for knowledge, learning and understanding.

I compare this assessment with the PIA&V (from TTI) as well as Business Motivators (from Maximum Potential). All three measure similar aspects. This is a great complimentary assessment to go along with any of the other ones we offer at Assess Yourself. Platinum Rule®, Social Styles and Disc are all behavioural style instruments. Here is the presentation and be sure to listen to the audio which takes you through the slides.

Values on Prezi

The audio appears in Explorer, Safari and most Firefox browsers. There does appear to be an issue for some on Firefox. If it doesn't show up, try linking to the direct page: http://www.assessmentstoday.com/2010/08/values-assessments.html My apologies.

Accompanying Audio:

New Assessment Portal and Community Network Launched

• Curious about assessments but not sure who to trust?
• Have you wanted to stay informed about assessments but don’t want to do the research?
• Do you use assessments but would like to expand your repertoire?
• Would you like assessment information all in one place with easy access?
• Do you have expertise that you would be willing to share with others?

Well I hope that is what I have created with my Assess Yourself Now Portal. You can now connect through a Community Network, FaceBook Page and / or Blog.  Membership in the community is free. If you are a trainer, coach, consultant or HR professional, I encourage you to register and join..  There is no charge for joining and you will have access to more resources. Up until the end of July you can enjoy extra resources as a Charter Member – then you will revert back to the Community Network.

Register no obligation at: http://www.AssessmentsHere.com

How fascinating are you? Vice? You have to be kidding.

I love it when I get to take an assessment - any kind but especially those that are fun.   Thanks to Patsi Krakoff I discovered Sally Hogshead's website where you to answer 28 quickie questions and get back instant results on your fascination score (or F Score as she calls it) and how to use it in your marketing.  Hogshead has written a whole book "Fascinate" on the subject that apparently is based on her national research.  Her premise is that there are 7 triggers and we use to influence and captivate.  Of course, we have our favourites and once we know them - we can leverage them to our advantage.

While I find the concept interesting I did not completely agree with my own results.  I simply do not believe that Vice is my primary trigger.  I think this was time sensitive or my frame of reference was off when I completed it.  "Mystique" is definitely up there but "trust" last.  Yuck. If you know me - tell me what you think.

MEET My TRIGGERS

Your primary fascination is VICE. (Nicely done, you.) Even without realizing it, you’re already instinctively applying this trigger when trying to persuade others. Your secondary trigger is MYSTIQUE, and your dormant trigger (the one you’re least likely to apply in your personality and behavior) is TRUST.

That said, this seems has a new and fun way of looking at some of these issues from a branding perspective. Check out the overview of these triggers in the presentation below.

Meet Your 7 Fascination Triggers

View more presentations from Sally Hogshead.

Color to Determine Personality Traits

I have known about the color quiz based in the work of Dr. Max Lascher  for a number of years.  This instrument is used worldwide, most notably in Europe, by psychologists, doctors, government agencies, and universities to screen their candidates. Since the 1950's the instrument has been given to hundreds of thousands of people. 

Now psychiatry professor Lange has come along with something that looks very similar: Color Career Counselor. While I tried to do the interactive test online, the two browsers I used: Firefox and Safari on Mac didn't want to give me my final results - nor did it send me the results when I gave my email.  It was rather disappointing but perhaps you might fair better.  Apparently, according to Inc. an analysis of some 900 CEOs' results shows they like magenta -- and are less dominant and confident than the rest of the population.

Career Path claims that their  Color Career Counselor is the world's first non-language test to define occupational interests. It uses color preference to determine successful career paths. The test is based on the multi-patented Dewey Color System, which is the world's only scientifically validated color-based personality test - published in the North American Journal of Psychology. The Color Career Indicator 4.0, provided by Dewey Color System, is an extensive evaluation that identifies "Your Most Fun Careers" from among more than 1,000 occupations, with record-breaking accuracy. A specific, ranked list of your top jobs is provided to you, along with additional information to assist you in your career exploration.

Test color can generate over 50 million different answers, each one written by an artificial intelligence engine for every test. Our symbolical rules are in conformance with the Freudian topics and the C.G. Jung's typology.  They all have been validated by a group of 800 people and by over 1 800 000 on line tests.

For those with reading or language challenges this might be an option. I have no idea how valid these assessments are or if you will find them enlightening or just entertaining.  All the ones I have listed are free so there is little to loose.  I would recommend trying all of them yourself and doing some comparisons.  If you do not see some correlations or comparisons, I would suggest not using them. 

Your experiences would be appreciated in the comments.

Does your client possess what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

Image by .nele via Flickr

I have come across a few assessments that determine entrepreneurial potential or capabilities (see below) but sometimes the most simple (sic) are the best.  This past week, in the Harvard Business Review blogs, Daniel Isenberg asks:

Should You Be An Entrepreneur?

Isenberg then presents a 20 item check list.  Getting rich and taking risks are not on the list.  He follows it up with some sole searching questions and some recommendations.

Brilliant.  I recommend you try it out for yourself if you are a solopreneur and offer it to your clients.  This is a fantastic resource if you coach entrepreneurs. 

Some other assessments / tests for consideration:

• The Entrepreneur Test (For a Small Business Owner)
• Should You Be An Entrepreneur?
• Entrepreneurship Test (for women)
• How to Change the World: What's Your EQ (entrepreneurial quotient) from Guy Kawasaki
• Can you be an entrepreneur? from Psychology Today
  

A One Two Punch - Good pairings for the MBTI and DISC

Image via Wikipedia

Normally I don't recommend giving clients more than one assessment.  It is a bit like overload and you end up spending a heck of a lot of time on debriefing the data than getting on with the learning. 

That said, there is in my mind an excellent match for each the MBTI® and the DISC.  First, let me be VERY clear that I do not recommend using both the MBTI and DISC together.  Nine times out of ten it will only confuse the client.  They will ask you to correlate their results which is rather tricky since they  measure different things. The MBTI is a preference assessment and the DISC is a behavioural (observed) how assessment.  Second, I will assume that you are properly trained and certified in the instrument of your choice.

MBTI® and Firo-B®

Clearly, I am not the only one who thinks this is a great combination. For quite sometime the CPP in the US and Psychometrics in Canada have offered a combined MBTI® / Firo-B® Online Report.  I have always liked the Firo-B ^® and was glad to see it come back into vogue in the late 90's in leadership development programs.  It does have a strong "psych"flavour and needs to be used properly. "The Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior ™ (FIRO-B ^®) assessment has helped people around the world unlock the mysteries of human interaction at work and in their personal life. This instrument quickly gathers critical insights into how an individual's needs for inclusion, control, and affection can shape his or her interactions with others."  Here's what they say on the web site:

Leadership Report Using FIRO-B ^® and MBTI ^® Instrument 17 pages

The FIRO-B and MBTI instruments tap into key aspects of personality and behavior in areas such as communication, problem solving, decision making, and interpersonal relations. The instruments are also quite distinct, each providing a view through a different window of the client's leadership personality. Together, they complement each other and provide rich information of use in a personal, ongoing leadership development program.

DISC and Values (Spranger and Allport's Motivators)

I knew of two different vendors offering this combination and I am now pleased to report that their is a third one on  the market.  All of them are based on the research of Dr. Eduard Spranger and Gordon Allport who looked into what drives and motivates an individual. The seven dimensions of value discovered between these two researchers help map the reasons that drive an individual to utilize their talents in the unique way they do. These assessment helps clients understand  motivators and drivers and how to maximize  performance by achieving better alignment and passion for what they do.

The three that I know of are:

1. The PIA&V (Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values™ from TTI Performance Systems. TTI along with Inscape is a recognized source for solid DISC instruments in the personal and business coaching communities and is also the distributor of PIAV which is a nice companion tool with the DISC.
   
   

2. The founder of Maximum Potential co-created the PIAV with Bill Bonnstetter of TTI. He has the rights to a similar product.  Maximum Potential uses more business language but unlike the PIAV, it does not have normative data.
   

3. My new portal Assess Yourself will be offerning the Online Assessments from Tony Alessandra. The Online Values Assessment measures seven dimensions of motivation (and similar to those above) as outlined below:

• Aesthetic - a drive for balance, harmony and form.
• Economic - a drive for economic or practical returns.
• Individualistic - a drive to stand out as independent and unique.
• Political - a drive to be in control or have influence.
• Altruistic - a drive for humanitarian efforts; help others altruistically.
• Regulatory - a drive to establish order, routine and structure.
• Theoretical - a drive for knowledge, learning and understanding.