Is DiSC a Test?

You’ll see that most DiSC providers, including this team, will not refer to the “DiSC test.” Instead of test, we will frequently refer to the property as a “DiSC Assessment.” But, to the untrained eye, anyone could get the idea that this was really a “DiSC test.”  After all, there are multiple items to respond to as you complete the assessment.  So why not refer to it as a test?

A “DiSC Test” would imply that there were wrong answers.

The first reason that we don’t refer to this product as a “test” is that the word “test” implies that there are right and wrong answers, when nothing could be further from the truth.

DiSC products do not “test” the participants.  It does a very good job of assessing the behavioral styles of a team member or leader, but even as it demonstrates the uses of the natural behavioral styles it teaches flexing of behavior to communicate more fully with others.

The DiSC assessment allows its participants to discover how their own styles of interacting with a group will impact their relationship with group members in a non-judgemental fashion.  There is no pass or fail - only growth.

A “DiSC Test” has potentially bad associations.

Not everyone loved school and taking exams. Since there is no right or wrong answers, calling this a “DiSC test” may just serve to conjure bad associations for some participants and put them under pressure to answer “correctly,” which would potentially skew the results.

“DiSC Test” vs “DiSC Assessment” - definitions

A “test” is defined as a procedure established to determine the quality, performance or reliability of something.  The DiSC assessment measures none of these things.  Instead, it accurately describes a participant’s natural behavior in working with others or in a group.

An “assessment” is defined as the evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality or ability of someone or something.  From this, we can see clearly that “assessment” is a more accurate description of the DiSC products, which help to evaluate the nature of a team member or leader to help describe their interactions with each other.

Find out more about the benefits of using DiSC by checking out our other articles.