Measuring the Power of Choice

Assessments Are the Window Into the Human Condition

Editor's note: This month, TTI SI's blog theme will center on the Science of Self™. Our bloggers will tackle this topic from a number of angles and provide you with valuable insights on how better understanding self leads to more desirable outcomes in the workplace.

TTI SI’s assessments can help us measure, understand and tame the three components of a powerful algorithm that resides within each of us and guides everything we do.

This mental model operates on its own whether we are aware of it or not. By optimizing its use, we can become more effective in selecting, developing and leading others and ourselves to create superior performance. We call this elegant little machine the Triangle of Choice.

Here's How it works

As we navigate through life, we absorb millions of experiences, events and relationships to form a unique set of personal filters; beliefs, values and habits of sensing.

Everything we collect through our senses is consciously and subconsciously filtered through these impressions to form our perceptions.

Because no two people share exactly the same combination of experiences, no two people perceive the world around them and themselves in exactly the same way. We operate from these perceptions — not the “real world.” Perceptions form one corner of the Triangle of Choice.

We human beings want something from the time we wake up in the morning to the time we go to sleep at night. If we perceive we are hungry, we want to satisfy that hunger. If we perceive we are cold, we want to find ways to become warm. Wants form the second corner of the Triangle of Choice.

We are continuously comparing what we want to what we perceive we have. This process of comparison never stops. When there is a gap between what we perceive we have and what we want — a difference that is important to us — we unconsciously or consciously choose a behavior to close that gap. Behaviors form the third corner of the Triangle of Choice.

No thought or action falls outside this little machine and the dynamic conditions created by its three components: perceptions, wants and behaviors. It’s called the Triangle of Choice because we can always change what we want, change our interpretation of what we perceive and focus on, and we can choose different behaviors.

Even if we are alone and chained to a wall in a cave, we can choose different ways to work with the situation. We always have these three choices, yet we don’t always choose the most effective one.

We can use this model to understand ourselves and others, make better decisions, and assist people to choose high performance.

Using the five Sciences of Self™, TTI SI’s assessments measure the patterns of perception, wanting and behavior that drive human thought and action within the Triangle of Choice.

• The Hartman Value Profile and Acumen Index reflect the clarity of our perceptions. How clearly do we attend to and see and understand the dimensions of people, tasks and systems in the world around us and within ourselves? These three dimensions are conditioned by our past experiences, beliefs and values, and are measures of the accuracy of our perceptions and the biases that support or distort them.

• The Motivators profile generates a picture of what we want. It creates a hierarchy that represents our personal preferences; the level of importance we place on each of the six motivators that underlie everything we want.

• The Behaviors profile identifies our preferences as to how we close the gaps between what we perceive we have and what we want; how we get things done.

• The DNA and Hartman competencies measure how we combine all three of these functions of perceptions, wants and behaviors to close the gaps we face each day in our personal and professional lives.

• Emotional intelligence (EQ) reflects our emotional intelligence; our capacity to manage the emotions that impact the choices we make in all three components of the model.

These five elements — behaviors, motivations, acumen, competencies and EQ — combine to measure and support our ability to harness the most powerful capacity human beings possess — the power of choice.

Assessments are the windows into the inner workings of this simple-to-understand, yet complex dynamic that operates within every human being.

By understanding TTI SI’s multi-dimensional insights into the “whole person” and the elegant machinery of their thoughts and actions, we decision makers can make far better choices regarding the most difficult of challenges we face each day in our organizations: selecting, developing and leading people to create superior performance.

For more information about the Triangle of Choice, read Leadership Simple: Leading People to Lead Themselves