Stability and Flexibility

Stability

Steadiness is the DISC factor associated, among other things, with a reluctant attitude to change. This aspect is brought out in the Team Profile factor of Stability, which appears when a team contains many Steady individuals. Because the team's members will wish to avoid alterations in their working environment, the culture of their team, once established, will tend to be adhered to by the members.

Steady people take time to consider and adapt to situations, and so Stable teams will take longer to develop than other types; the members will need to develop working relationships with one another, and evolve a structure for the team, before they can work comfortably within that group situation.

Once the team has developed in this way, however, it can be expected to operate reliably and cohesively. A Stable team, though, can be expected to inherit its members' rather deliberate, thoughtful style, and so tasks, while they will be completed, will tend to take such a team longer to achieve than other types of group.

Flexibility (inverse Stability)

Low Stability equates, in DISC terms, with Flexibility. As one would expect, this is the direct opposite of the Steady approach seen in Stable teams; members look for change and variety, and seek to achieve tasks as quickly as possible - they will typically exhibit low concentration thresholds which mean that they can become bored easily.

This is, therefore, a very strong team in some circumstances, and quite a weak one in others. For example, Flexible teams are well suited to many sales roles (especially direct sales), but far less suitable for longer term or predictable work, especially where this involves following defined plans.