What is Insights Discovery

Insights and Jung

Unlike other tools on the market, the Insights Discovery System is solidly based on the psychological types theory of Dr Carl G Jung and one of his leading students, Dr Jolande Jacobi. Jung proposed that our personalities are created in the interaction of four functions and two attitudes. When combined, these elements generate eight common personality types. Jung felt that what makes an individual unique are the different balances of these functions and attitudes interacting within them.

It is these balances that make up the Insights 4 Colour System. The four colours represent observable behavioural patterns:

External Assessment

In 2005 the University of Westminster’s Business Psychology Centre performed an extensive study of the Insights Discovery Evaluator English Version 3.0. Key statistical analysis was used to study the IDE’s “item analysis”, “norm data”, “reliability” and “validity”. The model went on to be validated for professional and domestic use by the British Psychology society (BPS). Follow this link to find out how Insights Discovery is validated.

The Insights Discovery personal profile

Each unique personal profile is written in a relatable and meaningful way that immediately increases self-awareness, helps you understand the impact your behaviour has on others and describes how you can best manage relationships that might have previously been challenging.

The Discovery profile starts with a foundation chapter. This chapter describes the recipient’s personal style, strengths, weaknesses, value to the team, communication style, potential blind spots, opposite type and offers some useful suggestions for development.

The Insights Discovery personal profile doesn’t just stop there and can consist of anything up to 46 pages. Based on your personal, team or leadership needs the profile also offers chapters on:

Management

The management chapter is almost an essential addition, whether the recipient is in a managerial role or not. This chapter describes how they might manage others, how they like to be managed and the sort of environment that will get the best out of them… and that’s not just about the physical building, room or having plants around the place… although that does help some of the colour energies.

Effective Selling

This chapter isn’t just for those who work in a sales environment. This chapter is versatile and helps people understand how they might connect better with key stakeholders, internal departments and providers in a supply chain. The Effective selling chapter describes the individual’s strengths and weaknesses in 6 stages:

• Before the interaction takes place
• Identifying the needs of the interaction
• Proposing a solution
• Dealing with resistance
• Getting commitment
• Following up and following through

This chapter also gives a graphical interpretation of where on a scale of greatness identified by Insights Discovery the individual’s self perception sits in 24 skills split between each of the 6 stages – it’s great for mentoring and coaching!

Personal Achievement

The personal achievement chapter delves deep into personal development and explores several key aspects of the individual’s development such as life purpose, learning styles (along with self-perception snapshot of 8 learning styles identified by the behavioural model), setting goals, work-life balance, natural creativity and overcoming obstacles. This chapter sits well with deep work on authenticity in the leadership setting.

Interview

Insights Discovery is not a screening tool for recruitment and should never be used to define a persons capability, intellect or skill. This chapter does however offer some great questions for a panel to use during the final stages of the selection process. In order to use this chapter in this way, both the candidate and interviewer will have had a feedback session with a licenced practitioner. This chapter is also useful for self-exploration and coaching.

The narrative of the profile is written in a personal and engaging way. Often recipients say ‘have you been following me?’ ‘did you speak to my partner?’ ‘how does it know these things?’ to which of course, we say ‘it’s magic!’

Discovery and the colour energies

Along with the narrative Insights Discovery presents the recipient with four graphical interpretations of:

1. How their colour energy order shows up to colleagues
2. How their colour energy might be when not managing tasks, colleagues or being around colleagues
3. Where they are dialling up, or dialling back the four main colour energies

Along with many other opportunities of growth, these graphs help reinforce the nuance of behaviour and how our personal style is a combination of order, proximity and amount. These colour graphs also help us understand that although we gravitate towards a dominant style, behaviour can flex to a degree given our life’s learning, the environment and where we are in our internal environment (thoughts, feelings, satisfaction etc.).

• Team culture
• Collective decision-making preferences
• Team drivers
• Why meetings might sometimes go the way they go
• Why certain team members might clash
• How to communicate more effectively

This is an essential bit of kit for teams and brings a constant reminder of all of the above. Learn more about how the team wheel is constructed here.

In summary, the Insights Discovery model of behaviour is a tool that brings deep insights and most importantly, starts a conversation that you might have been unable to have before that leads to a great ROI when used correctly.