Using both assessments can pinpoint misalignments, reduce friction & turn behavioral insights into Adaptability gains
In our previous post, we explored the fundamentals of the DISC assessment—what it measures, how it works, and why understanding behavioral style is such a powerful foundation for self-awareness and team effectiveness.
Now, let’s take it one step further: how do DISC and Adaptability work together?
We know that in today’s volatile environment, Adaptability is no longer a “soft skill”—it’s a strategic necessity. And while tools like DISC help you understand how people naturally behave and communicate, pairing those insights with Adaptability Intelligence (AQ) data gives you an even clearer picture of where behavior and Adaptability can align to drive success.
This alignment (or lack of it) has real consequences for people and organizations. In some situations, a person’s natural behavioral style can amplify their Adaptability strengths. In others, it can unintentionally create friction, slow change, or drain their energy—or that of their peers.
The value of using DISC along with the AQme assessment is that it doesn’t just confirm what’s working; It also shines a light on what’s not, so you can take action, whether that’s shuffling responsibilities, adjusting communication strategies, or providing targeted coaching and mentoring.
Think of DISC as a “top-layer” indicator on your people dashboard. It gives you immediate insight into someone’s natural and projected behavioral styles (work styles), helping you understand how they’re likely to approach situations and interact with others–and clues for how to avoid, when their projected style is different from their natural style, forcing them into that style for too long, which can cause burnout. From there, you can use the AQme assessment to dive deeper to uncover how they respond when circumstances shift.
Why DISC and AQ Belong Together
While each offers valuable insights individually, when used together AQ and DISC become a powerful framework for self-awareness, intentional behavioral shifts, resilient teamwork and optimal performance that can help individuals reach their full potential without overtaxing them.
DISC focuses on behavior—what you can observe and measure in steady-state and under stress—while AQ focuses on Adaptability—how someone responds during periods of uncertainty and ambiguity. Both tools are dynamic: behaviors shift based on context, and Adaptability can be influenced by the workplace environment and strengthened through intentional development.
By combining the two, you get a more complete picture.
“DISC gives us a snapshot of someone’s behavioral ‘home base’ and how they flex into their ‘projected style’ when they need to,” says Competitive Edge CEO Krista Sheets. “AQme tells us how ready and able they are to make that flex when change happens—and how well they can sustain it without burning out.”
This matters because living in a disconnected or misaligned projected style for too long is costly. When someone spends too much of the day “wearing the mask” of a work-adapted style that is far from their natural one, it drains their energy, increases stress, and often erodes engagement. As a rule of thumb, you want people in their natural style 80% of the time. Too much flexing without recovery isn’t sustainable—and that’s where you start to see fatigue, turnover, and missed performance goals.
DISC & AQme at Work: Two Case Studies
The Calm Captain Encounters Choppy Waters
- The subject: A senior compliance manager whose DISC profile shows high Compliance and high Steadiness. They value structure, accuracy, and predictability. Their team knows them as thorough, dependable, and calm under pressure.
- The situation: They’ve been tapped to oversee the rollout of a new digital platform with an aggressive timeline.
- The challenge: Suddenly, they need to shift from structured and stable to a high-urgency, “move fast” culture—more akin to high Dominance and low Steadiness.
- The risks: Without behavioral insights from DISC and Adaptability Intelligence from the AQme assessment, the manager’s natural caution could slow progress and frustrate stakeholders.
- The solution: With a person’s DISC profile in hand, a coach can work with them to identify the specific behaviors they’ll need to flex: making quicker decisions, for example: tolerating some ambiguity, and delegating more than they might under normal conditions.
And here’s where the AQme assessment adds value: by looking at relevant subdimensions in the Ability category, like Resilience, Grit, and Growth Mindset, you can better equip the individual with more indepth and specific guidance to navigate the shifts more effectively. The AQme assessment can show what specific conditions need to be present to avoid stress overload and what could possibly cause friction in the progress the individual wants to make. For instance, if their AQme assessment shows low tolerance for uncertainty, offering extra support in the form of a peer sounding board, milestone check-ins, or merely the direct reassurance that they can hit “pause” without penalty when quality is truly at risk, are measures that can insulate against the onset of that potentially costly stress overload.
As a result, this individual can adapt in the moment without losing confidence or becoming exhausted and overwhelmed by being forced too far outside their “home base” for too long.
Here’s an example from a different perspective:
When Charisma Collides with Compliance
- The subject: a high-Influence, mid-high-Dominance sales director. They’re charismatic, energetic, driven to connect and they excel at building relationships and inspiring action.
- The situation: They’ve been assigned to lead a new initiative with a strong data-analysis component with complex forecasting, tracking, and reporting. The cross-functional team is heavy on high-Compliance analysts and low-Influence subject matter experts. They’re “the devil’s in the details” types.
- The challenge: In a preferred environment, the sales director is the spark that keeps teams motivated. But their natural tendency might be to gloss over the fine print of the analytics in favor of big-picture vision.
- The risk: If they don’t acknowledge the need to flex their style, they risk alienating their detail-oriented peers and missing key requirements. Or they might struggle to be firm or hold their team accountable when they’re not used to laying out timelines and requirements.
- The solution: With a DISC profile, they can see how to fill the gap: they’ll need to focus on precision, slow down to double-check facts, and communicate in a way that resonates with high-Compliance colleagues.
Layer on AQ insights, and this helps determine the type of environment (team and company support, work environment processes, and stress level) they’ll need to make that shift more easily. If their AQme assessment shows lower Resilience or bounceback from perceived obstacles, a coach can prepare them for the potential fatigue of less “face time” and help them build recovery into their schedule.
“This is extremely common—someone can flex their behavior beautifully for a while, but if they’re living outside their natural style for too long, the energy drain is real,” says Sheets.
“That’s when you start to see engagement drop, even in top performers. Leaders must be aware of this risk in their people and give them opportunities to ‘reset.’”
Using DISC & Adaptability Intelligence as a Strategic Lever
When you use DISC only as a classification tool, you miss its greatest potential. The real ROI comes from using DISC and AQme assessments to:
- Pinpoint friction before it escalates. If you know a project will put a high-Steadiness team into a volatile situation, you can proactively adjust timelines and communication styles to reduce resistance.
- Coach based on context, not labels. A “high-Compliant” isn’t always acting in a “high-C” mode, and a “high-Influencer” isn’t always a “high-I.” Behavior shifts with context, and knowing these baselines can help leaders coach someone to flex strategically into their projected style for the right situations, making them more versatile without overtaxing them.
- Align roles to natural strengths. Not everyone aspires to or thrives in leadership roles. Use DISC to match people with responsibilities that play to their strengths, then apply Adaptability Intelligence to ensure they have the skills to navigate change in those roles.
- Enhance psychological safety. Like the AQme assessment, DISC provides a nonjudgmental language for discussing behavior. It’s easier to address performance gaps when you can point to observable patterns and their impact, rather than making it personal.
- Understand human complexities. DISC can tell you, for example, that your high-Dominance product manager will likely struggle to collaborate with a cautious, high-Compliance quality assurance lead. But AQme can reveal complexities that are less outwardly observable: maybe the product manager has low Emotional Range, making it harder for them to empathize when others hesitate, or the QA lead has low Unlearn capacity, making it challenging to abandon old processes.
- Preserve energy. Constantly pushing people into their projected behavior (if it differs from their natural style) without adequate recovery can sap their energy and cause burnout. Understanding how they respond to change can help mitigate those risks, preserve their energy and help them be more effective.
When DISC alone doesn’t explain performance or engagement issues, an AQme assessment can fill in the missing context. Together, they form a complete behavioral and Adaptability profile that’s far more predictive than either one on its own.
Deeper Insight = Greater Potential
The goal of using DISC and AQme (alone or together) isn’t to change people. It’s to help them recognize their natural style, identify when flexing is necessary, and create the right conditions so they can operate in their “home base” most of the time, but also have a roadmap for strategic and targeted flexing. That’s how you protect energy, reduce burnout, and build an adaptable, high-performing culture.
In today’s environment, where Adaptability determines survival, tools like DISC and AQme assessments aren’t “nice-to-have” team-building exercises. They’re the foundation of your organization’s behavioral operating system.
When you invest in tools that decode behavior, you give your teams the insight they need to flex, grow, and align with purpose. You don’t just manage change—you lead it.
To get started with a DISC or AQme Adaptability assessment, contact us today.