86 ◾ Transforming Teams
coaching a little league baseball team that has won the
division title and is heading to a championship tourna-
ment that is being held on the other side of the state.
Congratulations!”
Everyone played along, pretending to look pleased
with their imaginary teams.
“But here’s the thing. You have 21 little leaguers on
your team but only enough money to send 14 players
to the tournament. The exercise is this: how will you
decide which players get to go to the state champion-
ship? You have three minutes to complete the exercise.”
With that, each of the teams got to work. The few
Drivers in the group proceeded to argue over the most
important statistic to consider when evaluating players.
The Inuencers started to laugh and talk about what
sightseeing they would do once they made it to the
city. The Supporters quietly talked amongst themselves
and couldn’t be overheard, and the Controllers seemed
to sit silently and not say a word to each other.
After exactly three minutes had passed, Charles
called time and had each team explain to the others
what ideas they had come up with.
The Drivers started off. They were quite pleased
with their solution, which they needed only one minute
to fully develop. They concluded that RBIs were the
best offensive statistic to judge a player’s value to the
team and, as a result, they would select the 12 players
who had the most RBIs during the season, along with
the two strongest pitchers.
“We’re gonna win!” exclaimed one of the “high D’s.”
Sales vs. Customer Service ◾ 87
Charles turned to the next group. “Okay, what did
the Controllers come up with?”
“Well,” started Kirby, “we actually ran out of time.
None of us are big baseball players, so we didn’t know
what statistic we should focus on. Quite frankly, we
didn’t have enough data. The only statistic that we
could agree was truly an indication of commitment was
attendance, and we were discussing that when we ran
out of time. We talked about several possibilities, but
we just didn’t have enough information or time to make
a decision.”
“Well, if that doesn’t describe a high controller, I
don’t know what does!” exclaimed a delighted Charles.
Turning to the “high I’s,” Charles asked, “Okay, what
did the Inuencers come up with?”
“Well, we didn’t want anyone’s feelings to get hurt
or anyone to feel left out, so we decided to do a lot-
tery and just randomly pick names out of a hat for who
would get to go. It seemed the most fair,” said a mem-
ber of the “high I” group. “And, maybe the ‘D’s’ are
gonna win, and the ‘C’s’ are gonna enjoying thinking
this to death, but we’re gonna have the most fun at the
tournament!”
“I’m sure you will!” said Charles. “Okay, last but not
least, Supporters, what did you come up with?”
“We decided that, in the spirit of teamwork and col-
laboration, it wasn’t fair to leave anyone behind. So we
decided to hold a bake sale to raise the money to send
the entire team. We’re not leaving anyone behind,” said
the Supporter group spokesperson.
88 ◾ Transforming Teams
“Wimps!” shouted one of the high Drivers. “We’re
playing cutthroat little league over here!” shouted
another, to general laughter.
Charles waited for everyone to settle down before
moving the discussion into the home stretch. “When
we started, I told you our goal for the day was for you
to learn about your own behavioral style, to recognize
other behavioral styles, and to learn how to ex your
own style to be more in keeping with the person you
are working or talking with. Do you feel that we’ve
accomplished that?”
“Yes,” said Kirby jokingly, “I know that if I want to
be more like a Driver, I just need to be ruthless and
gure out a way to win at any cost. Or yell a lot,” he
said, obviously a reference to his previous boss and
bully, Scott Baker.
“And if we want to be more like the Controllers, we
just need to keep asking questions and hope the need to
make a nal decision will eventually pass,” teased Dave.
Smiling, Eliza stood, turned to Charles, and said,
“Well, you’ve clearly given us just enough information
for us to do a lot of damage! Seriously, thank you so
much, Charles, for helping the team both grasp this
concept and quickly see its importance. And thanks for
making this fun, as well.”
“My pleasure,” said Charles warmly to audience
applause.
“And for you,” Eliza said, turning to the group, “I
would like you to keep this learning alive. I will be
putting the reports on the shared drive. Please, I ask
that you reect on your behaviors and on the behaviors
Sales vs. Customer Service ◾ 89
of those who you work with in order to be more
accommodating and appreciative of their behavioral
preferences.”
“I’d like to go a bit farther than that,” said Claire. “I
propose that we laminate each of our DISC proles and
prop them up on our desks so that they are always there
when people come in to talk with us. Is everyone agree-
able to that?” she asked her customer service team.
Everyone seemed to agree.
“Great,” said Dave. “We’ll do the same.”
“Wonderful,” said Eliza. “With that, go forth and be
the change you want to see in others!”
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