It is highly important to note that the Dimensional^® Model identifies and categorizes behavior. It does not classify people or personalities. The same person can behave quite differently, for example, with his/her managers, direct reports, and coworkers. Circumstances can cause a person to shift from one behavior pattern to another, but the person remains the same person, and no personality change takes place.

It is true that people tend to behave the same way most of the time. This behavior is called their primary behavior. The many applications of the Dimensional^® Model can prove quite helpful in predicting a person's primary behavior in various business situations. A strategy can then be developed for dealing with that behavior.

If the behavior of the person is different from what has been predicted, however, a different strategy must be implemented. The insights into behavior that the Dimensional^® Model gives apply only to the behavior a person is showing during the face-to-face interaction occurring at that very moment.

Application of the Model

The Dimensional^® Model applies to the behaviors of people at every level of an organization. It, therefore, has numerous applications in the area of training and development. For example, it can be used to teach:

• Managers to improve their productivity by dealing more effectively with direct reports, their bosses, and peers
• Employees to understand each other better so that they can work together more cooperatively
• Salespeople how to increase sales by understanding and fulfilling customers' needs
• Managers to improve employees' performance by conducting better performance appraisals
• Team members to improve their effectiveness and teamwork by collaborating better as teams and as individuals on the team
• People of different cultures to understand cultural differences and deal with those differences across cultures.