Here are your results
Your Primary Drive Is:
Security
Preparedness is your superpower. You take great pride in your patient, deliberate, and organized approach to things.
You think many steps ahead, which, like a skilled chess player, leads you to attack issues patiently and pragmatically. In the rare event you are caught off-guard, you already have a back-up plan in place. Some may mistake you for being conservative when, in reality, you value considering possible consequences so that you can maximize potential positive outcomes or the inherent risks. Data is something you value, given your appreciation for seeing how specific patterns may affect one another and because it allows you to peel back the layers to gain a better understanding of a situation. Your introspective nature leads you to have a strong sense of self and find happiness in the simple things in life.
Strengths
- Attention to Detail: Being prepared gives you a sense of ease and control; the feeling you have done all you could do to enhance the chances of success. Even when providing someone with feedback, you focus on leading with facts as opposed to offering blind praise or vague criticisms. The impact of all you do and say is weighed and measured against the impact it may have.
- Pragmatic: When trying to accomplish something, you value taking a straightforward approach. You are a fairly serious person who makes every attempt to leave emotions out of your decisions, even though you realize that isn’t entirely possible. Everything from your friends, to the purchases you make is selected cautiously.
- Knowledgeable: Given your vigilant and inquisitive nature, you are relentless in seeking out facts regarding benchmarks, best practices, and methods that lead to improved efficiency. Systemization and assessment are your allies. Always the investigator, you seek to accumulate research, ideas, and relationships that will provide you with further insight. You appreciate theories, but ultimately it is vetted information you are after as it provides you with tools you can use both now and in the future when a need arises.
Snares
- Lack of Creativity: Your patient and deliberate nature can make some view you as an “idea-limiter” or someone who finds faults in an ambitious vision before it has a chance to go through an experimental phase and truly be tested. Perception is reality in many situations, so by all means take your time when the situation calls for it, but do so understanding external stakeholders may see you as vanilla in your approach.
- Missed Opportunities: At times you may view surprises as problems as opposed to gifts. The famous military-based axiom, “no plan survives first contact with the enemy,” has lasted for a reason – it’s true. Order and control may provide comfort at the moment, but it limits your possible new experiences and, thus, your perspective.
- Pensive: We would all benefit from improving our ability to engage in more serious, reflective, and deep thought. However, when a rising level of uncertainty leads you to become increasingly risk-averse, feeling guilty for losing control of a situation or chronic overthinking, it’s time to reevaluate your strategy and look into what is driving you to seek increasing amounts of power. Remember, the opposite of fear is not a lack of fear; it is a love of learning.
As you review and share your results, remember nobody fits neatly into only one category. Life and our social nature cannot be forced into a vacuum, as people and their relationships are far too complex for that.
This quiz is a starting point, albeit a critical one.
Specific drives and even our responses to situations will vary depending on the context, including cultural values, our motivation to engage with a given activity, our mood, the physical location we find ourselves in, the company we keep, and numerous other factors.
To become better people, all of us must engage with activities that make us reflect more deeply on our tendencies, behaviors, state(s) of mind and perceptions of what drives us and others frequently.
To derive more value and growth, share your results with others, and join the conversation.
Share this quiz!
There is an abundance of scientific literature that debates the accuracy and validity of many existing tests like this of which you can learn about in my book. Amidst these debates, people forget that we benefit from merely taking the first step by taking part in reflective activities of any kind.
From an accuracy standpoint, nothing will ever be perfect- and perfection isn’t necessary for progress.
Human nature may be predictable, but all of our behaviors are not.
For more accuracy, we strongly recommend you engage with this quiz multiple times, whether in varying emotional states, physiological states (fatigue, alert, happy, stressed, etc.), physical locations, times of the year, and even when around friends.
You can continue your journey by learning more about drives, leadership and communication by listening to episode 130 of our podcast, reading my book, or taking my online course Bought-In.
