The Human Synergistics Circumplex is a quantitative human performance measurement tool. It assesses the effectiveness of people and the systems they create. This conceptual model arranges variables in a circular manner based on their similarities. It brings together twelve styles of thinking, behaving, and interacting and clusters them into three general orientations: Constructive, Aggressive/Defensive, and Passive Defensive.
Constructive
The Constructive orientation reflects a healthy balance of people and
task-related concerns and promotes the fulfillment of one's higher-order
needs. The styles associated with this orientation are directed toward
the attainment of organizational goals through the development of people.
Constructive styles account for synergy and explain why certain individuals,
groups or organizations are most effective in the areas of performance,
growth, and quality.
Aggressive/Defensive
The Aggressive/Defensive orientation emphasizes tasks over people and
is driven by underlying insecurities. In the extreme, these styles lead
people to focus on their own needs at the expense of others. Though sometimes
temporarily effective, the Aggressive/Defensive styles can lead to stress,
decisions based on status rather than expertise, and conflict rather than
collaboration.
Passive/Defensive
The Passive/Defensive orientation represents an unduly strong orientation
toward people not tasks, fueled by and reinforcing individual insecurity.
These styles characterize people who subordinate themselves to the organization
but in the process, end up creating stress for themselves and allow the
organization to stagnate. Passive/Defensive styles can temporarily produce
a predictable and superficial secure situation, but at the cost of learning,
adaptability, and ultimately, survival.
The Circumplex is
the foundation of the Organization Alignment process:
Creating a Champion - Life Styles Inventory (LSI) measures individual
attitudes and behaviors through self-assessment and 360º feedback.
Team of Champions - Group Styles Inventory (GSI) measures the patterns
of interaction related to group differences.
Champion Leadership - Leadership Impact (L/I) measures the impact
of leadership strategies on organizational members' behavior and performance.
Discovery - Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI) measures the
shared values, beliefs and expectations that guide the way members interact
and approach their work.
This integrated, multilevel system measures performance and development. It enables organizations to initiate change programs at individual, group and organizational levels, either simultaneously or sequentially. The Circumplex provides a common language and theme to link these development efforts.
Each of the twelve styles is plotted from the center of the Circumplex moving outward. The six rings represent percentiles. The farther out a particular style is shaded, the more that style is present as compared to the normative sample.
The Circumplex has been used since 1970 by millions of people around the world. It is a valid and reliable model that quantitatively measures human performance and its impact on the bottom line.
The Circumplex, LSI, GSI, OCI, OEI and LI are copyrighted by Human Synergistics and Human Synergistics Center for Applied Research and appear here with permission of the publisher.