Neuroscience-Based Diagnostic Tools
As someone who studied to use a variety of different assessment and diagnostic tools over the years, I'm a huge fan of the power of Neuroscience-based assessment tools to help guide people through difficult change! Here is some an insight into why Neuroscience-based assessments are so powerful.
One of the most common questions I get asked when guiding individuals, teams, and organizations to read their diagnostic report is "so what now...what can I do about it?"
I'm sure that like me, you are familiar with numerous personality and performance diagnostic tools. Tools like MBTI, DISC, the Leadership Circle, Predictive Index (in no particular order) are highly reliable and validated and have paved the way to numerous transformations. So what is so unique about Neuroscience-based diagnostic tools that needs our special attention?
From Descriptive to Prescriptive
The first powerful thing about Neuroscience-based diagnostic and assessment tools is that they don't simply describe. Instead, they identify causes. At KCI, using Neuroscience-based assessment tools allows us to separate between symptoms, core causes, how people respond, and which skills (if acquired) will lead to achieving desired outcomes.
Neuroscience-based diagnostic tools are uniquely designed to support people through difficult change because they answer why things are the way they are, not just what is and what isn't. Traditional diagnostic tools will accurately identify the degree to which an individual is precise, organized, detail oriented, collaborative, and supportive. This makes traditional diagnostic tools invaluable in the context of recruiting, for example. Neuroscience-based diagnostic tools will pinpoint WHY a particular combination of thinking and response patterns is creating obstacles for a specific people, which makes them far better suited to support transformation.
Neuroscience-based diagnostic tools map all the elements traditional tools measure, but as importantly, they identify what exactly is blocking the client from achieving desired outcomes. Many times the reason people are not achieving their goals, the why of it that can be found only with a very deep understanding of how an individual or team is "wired," is not at all what we might expect.
Traditional diagnostic tools tell us that the client is more innovative, less detail oriented, more collaborative, and more resistant to change. Neuroscience-based diagnostic tools give us insight into WHY this particular client is more innovative, less detail oriented, and more collaborative. Pinpointing why, means we can support clients by addressing the heart of what they need to focus on. We are identifying the most exact, focused, "pressure point" so that we can invest the least amount of energy for the greatest impact. It also ensures that change will be far more accurate and direct which translates to seeing results faster, less frustration, and greater sustainability. While this is always a good thing, it is even more important in the context of working with difficult change or when individuals and teams are more skeptical, cynical, or resistant.
What Now?
The difference between descriptive and prescriptive diagnostic tools may seem minor. After all, if we have a descriptive profile, we can often easily speculate what is the cause or the block that prevents people from achieving desired outcomes.
However, skipping a validated identification of "why" can and often does result in focusing on the wrong thing. When using traditional diagnostic tools we know with very high reliability and validity that a person is "high" at X, Y, and Z and "low" at A,B, and C...but we are forced to guess at what of all of those is the cause.
Because Neuroscience-based diagnostic tools identify why someone is blocked, they can highlight if there is an underlying cause. They can compare X-Z and A-C, look at the person or the team as a whole, identify internal conflicts, see the whole complexity, and deliver powerful, accurate insight about things you can't see by simply "breaking down" a profile into its components.
In other words, Neuroscience-based diagnostic tools validate the "What's now?" aspect of change.
Would love to hear about your experience with Neuroscience-based diagnostic tools.
