“The entrepreneurial Heffalump is a variegated sort of animal, which appears in different habitats and in different forms. It also appears to have undergone some evolutionary changes or mutations since the first reports of its existence were made public by Heffalump hunters in the past. So it is not surprising that there is disagreement about the nature of the beast” (Wilken, 1979)

Do entrepreneurs engage in the organising mode?

Organisers perceive their environment as favourable and seek to be consistent and thorough. They like to take care of people, develop expertise and knowledge, be persistent and determined.

Jim’s Mowing offer structure and a proven business model. It is a franchise network that looks after their franchisees and offers freedom and lifestyle.

Franchises are a proven method for reducing risk for those seeking self employment. They have thought very carefully through their business model. In theory you work hard and follow their method. The chances are that you will be successful. The video suggests that you will get £30,000 net profit in the first year.

Do all entrepreneurs engage in the organising mode?

Typically many very competent professionals and trades people start their businesses as skilled people. They have systems and knowledge that they can use to help other people. For instance solicitors, mechanics, beauty therapists, or graphic designers.

A problem that they may face is developing their business. Perhaps “lifestyle” business is appealing and they do not want to take the risks that would be necessary to grow and be “successful” in the eyes of the Dragon’s Den panel. If they did they may have to:

• Consider developing other modes of behaviour
• Working with other people who happily engage in other modes of behaviour

Organising mode is very similar to Green earth (Insights), Sensing feeling (Myers briggs), and steadiness (Disc).

The entrepreneurial Heffalump is a variegated sort of animal, which appears in different habitats and in different forms. It also appears to have undergone some evolutionary changes or mutations since the first reports of its existence were made public by Heffalump hunters in the past. So it is not surprising that there is disagreement about the nature of the beast” (Wilken, 1979)

Do entrepreneurs use the driving mode of behaviour?

Driving behaviour can be seen through those that enjoy innovating, challenging the status quo, taking control and making firm conditions, self starting, adapting to change, and focussing on results and success.

Innovating embodies most if not all of the words used above. Innovating is about bringing a new product or service to market. It is not about pure creativity or perceiving endless possibilities. It is about solving problems and making something happen.

Where James Dyson is different to other engineers and scientists is that he has a vision of what he wants to achieve. He then goes out and overcomes the challenges needed in order to make it a success. He does want to make a difference and he looks at the world in which we live and comes up with improvements, and then brings them to market. In the above video he is discussing the blade less fan.

In believing himself to be more powerful than his environment James Dyson believes that he can make things happen. He may see the world as a competitive place.

Do all entrepreneurs engage in the driving mode?

Yes!

Most successful entrepreneurs will have to engage in the driving mode at some point. They will have to be rational, they will have to bring a product or service to market, and they will have to solve problems in order to realise their vision.

Some entrepreneurs may start without engaging their driving mode. Almost certainly they will have to engage it in order to grow a company. They will have to invest, they will have to take calculated risks. The dragon’s from Dragon’s Den will be like this when they are growing businesses.

That said, the driving mode is no good on its own. How do you get people to work with you? How do you examine the small details and perfect a product? How do you get your company to run smoothly?

Driving mode is very similar to the fiery red (Insights), Intuitive thinker (Myers Briggs), and dominance (Disc), modes of behaviour.

“The entrepreneurial Heffalump is a variegated sort of animal, which appears in different habitats and in different forms. It also appears to have undergone some evolutionary changes or mutations since the first reports of its existence were made public by Heffalump hunters in the past. So it is not surprising that there is disagreement about the nature of the beast” (Wilken, 1979).

Are entrepreneurs analysers?

When using this mode of behaviour analyers are focussed on getting things right. They can be emotionally detached, they enjoy complexity and may become experts in their field.

On first glance the analyser is defensive, can be “sharp” with others, a “bit of a nerd”, not something you would associate with entrepreneurs. Think again!

The above clip of Dragon’s Den shows that successful entrepreneurs being rational and clearly using their financial and marketing skills to tear apart a presentation. Not impressed with a “big picture” presentation they were more concerned with the practicalities of how things would work. Peter Jones uses logical figures to demonstrate that a server uses less electricity than the solution on offer.

Analysers may be prone to perfection. They like being prepared. They also like to work through situations using logic. This comes from them believing that the world can be a hostile place that they have to “watch out”. Here they do not want to be conned into investing. Perhaps in this moment they also believe that they are less powerful than their environment without their financial tools.

Do I have to be an analyser to be an entrepreneur?

No!

Entrepreneurs tend to develop a heightened sense of analytical behaviour once they have been successful. They do know that their success has been hard earn’t and they are not about to give it away to every golden opportunity that comes their way.

Perhaps it is true that analysers find it difficult to see the big picture or to take risks. Many small business owners do worry about investing and perhaps in order to grow they have to develop their other behavioural modes.

Analysing behaviour is very similar to sensing thinking (Myers Briggs), cool blue (Insights), and compliance (Disc).

“The entrepreneurial Heffalump is a variegated sort of animal, which appears in different habitats and in different forms. It also appears to have undergone some evolutionary changes or mutations since the first reports of its existence were made public by Heffalump hunters in the past. So it is not surprising that there is disagreement about the nature of the beast” (Wilken, 1979).

Are entrepreneurs energisers?

Energisers are innovative, gregarious, creative, and agreeable. They seek to influence their environment through their ability to enthuse others.

Steve Ballmer clearly likes to enthuse others. He may be an example of extreme behaviour, but he does get the crowd going.

Do entrepreneurs have to be like Steve Ballmer?

No!

Indeed entrepreneurs may favour any of the 4 behavioural modes. However in order to be successful it is likely that they will do one of 2 things:

• Work with other people who engage comfortably in the energiser mode
• Develop their energiser mode, so that they are mode comfortable using it

(Energising mode is based on NF Intuitive Feeling (Myers Briggs), Influence (Disc), and Sunshine Yellow (Insights))

When I was younger I did an industrial year. For me this meant working in a warehouse in the “best” part of Manchester. One of my jobs was to watch 1 tonne bags, observe the number, and check it off against a sheet of numbers.

I was very confident that I would excel at this. After all I was doing a degree and this was not “rocket science”. The despatch manager who usually did this was very good. She seemed to never make a mistake. If I was training to be the manager of a warehouse one day, surely I needed to be better than her. (I was quite confident that I would be).

Some months later I had not got through a day without making a mistake. I had been through all sorts of emotions, I hated the task, I became more determined to master it, I was angry with the despatch manager, I even started to think about whether I would be able to manage a despatch clerk in the future. How would I command their respect?

Today I can work with complicated mathematics, I do analyse data, but I still cannot check numbers against a list. This is a useful skill doing accounts or checking reports. For a hobby I am in a band. When we practise a piece of music I get very frustrated very quickly if we have to practise a piece too many times. I do not like focussing in on 2 or 3 notes and prefer to go for a “feel” and want a flow in what we do.

My Miro Results Chart

My analysing mode is not engaged. Analysers like to be accurate, highly rational, thorough and objective. Of particular interest is that it confirms that I do not like pursuing accuracy and I am not “naturally” thorough. I am not a perfectionist, however easy a task is. This has followed me throughout my working career. Writing reports, articles, submitting assignments, checking figures, or even practising music.

If this was a Myers Briggs assessment this would be the ST or Sensing Thinking mode.

If this was a Disc profile this would be Compliance or Conscientious behaviour

If this was Insights this would be “Cool Blue” behaviour

I need help!

I am a little older and possibly wiser. I appreciate the benefit of getting things right, but going that extra mile is often frustrating, energy sapping, and however hard I try, I still make mistakes.

Working with people who enjoy checking, getting things right, or giving me discipline to practise improves my end results. I have learnt to be calmer, take feedback, and most importantly I do not have to be best at everything in order to feel good about myself or to manage other people.

MiRo Behavioural Mode Assessment is a tool that quickly helped me to understand how I see the world. Whilst my natural instincts are to be competitive and see the “big picture”, to get a good end result I have a simple choices:

• Doing it all on my own will be frustrating.
• Only seeing things from my perspective will cause conflict, even if it is internal conflict ie stress.
• Other people can add benefits to what I do by adding in approaches I do not internally value.
• Choosing a competitive approach to everything does not win the hearts and minds of other people and to work with them I have to use different language.
• Staying calm and listening is hard for me, but it has lots of benefits

You may complete a MiRo Behavioural assessment as part of a coaching session, a training course, or as part of a change management programme. It has helped me think about myself. I can work smarter. I work better with other people. That said I still find analysing mode difficult, and still get frustrated when someone finds errors in my written work!

My daughter’s cat killed a wood pigeon today, a starling yesterday, and a blackbird the day before. Each bird was laid on the lawn outside our house. Apparently this is normal behaviour for a cat.

MiRo Behavioural Mode Assessment is concerned with behaviour and recognises that most behaviour is “OK”. Whilst mental illness or mental disorder can result in abnormal behaviour, most behaviour is “OK”.

My daughter decided she was going to be a vegetarian a couple of years ago. She has always wanted a cat. The cat’s current need to kill has been quite upsetting for her. She has found it difficult to appreciate that the cat is …. just being a cat. That said, her behaviour is entirely consistent with a 10 year old vegetarian.

MiRo Assessment helps understand how we see the world. If two people see the world very differently they may behave differently, however their behaviour is still “OK”.

For instance it is good practice for teachers to keep a record of student attendance and marks in their register. Some teachers will enjoy keeping a “perfect” register, others may struggle to keep accurate records beyond the second week of term. Both sets of behaviour are “OK”, yet the act of keeping a register is motivating to some and frustrating to others

The MiRo Behavioural Mode Assessment is based on the work of Carl Jung and William Marsten. It looks at the ways in which we interact with our environment, our perceptions and our decision making styles. MiRo  has been designed specifically to be used in the modern workplace to help people work better and smarter. That means better communication, better team work and better leadership.

We cannot view the world through a cat’s eyes, although some have tried. My daughter will continue to be upset with dead birds, and in time will accept the cat’s behaviour without condoning it. We have a head start with each other as we have more in common with each other than we do with cats. Using Miro you can get further insights into why you think the way that you do. You may also get insights into how other people think the way that they do. Hopefully this leads to accepting and valuing other people’s behaviour, even if we do not “like” it.

Miro Behavioural Mode Assessment helps us to understand how we behave. It has 4 “modes of behaviour” and suggests that for each of us one or two modes are more favoured. The following  illustrates the four different modes.

Four couples have been having dinner parties for many years. Each couple takes it in turn to cook and host dinner. How might different people approach preparing a dinner party?

Driving Mode

When using this Behavioural mode people can be forceful, adventurous, rational and forceful. Drivers are not necessarily looking for harmony with others but are focussed on achieving their objectives, possibly at the cost of their relationships with their colleagues.

In preparing a dinner party driving mode behaviour could be competitive,  or be used as a situation to gain personal advantage. Driving mode can be innovative, perhaps favouring different or unusual cuisine. Driving mode is also intuitive, and perhaps a person does not feel the need to follow recipes exactly and wants to create something new.

As rational people you may also find that they will make judgements. If they cannot “win”, what is the point in cooking, perhaps there is another game to play.

Clearly as individuals we would not only engage driving behaviour, it is part of a mix.

(Driving mode is based on NT Intuitive Thinking (Myers Briggs), Dominance (Disc), and Fiery Red (Insights))

Energising Mode

Energisers can be innovative, gregarious, creative and agreeable. They are focussed on relationships and process, possibly at the cost of a successful outcome. Energisers will seek to avoid conflict. Harmony is important to them.

At a dinner party Energisers may be more interested in everyone having a good time. They may cook without much interest in a recipe book, and attention may be given to giving everyone a good time, creating a party atmosphere. They may see themselves as host and require support from others to deal with fine detail. You may find an energiser cooking in front of other people (TV chef), where the performance is every bit as important as the end result.

(Energising mode is based on NF Intuitive Feeling (Myers Briggs), Influence (Disc), and Sunshine Yellow (Insights))

Analysing mode

Individuals who have the analysing mode engaged can be accurate, thorough and objective. They focus on getting things right. This means that they will seek “perfection” through preparing themselves more than adequately. They do not like taking risks, and through their objectivity they can be cynical or having a dry sense of humour.

In preparing for a dinner party individuals with the analysing mode engaged will practice recipes. They will practice their method, consider the resources they need carefully and choose recipes that they can do well. At a dinner party great care is given to the order of events and making sure that everything runs according to plan.

You could put an analyser under pressure by suggesting “themed” events requiring new foods. Asking them to cook in a different kitchen or even using different equipment. Contrasting this with energisers and people with the driving mode engaged who would see “different” as a challenge or fun.

(Analysing mode is based on ST Sensing thinking (Myers Briggs), Compliance (Disc), and Cool Blue (Insights))

Organising mode

When the organising mode is engaged people can be agreeable, thorough and determined. They like stability and well being of the group. They value security and looking after others.

Organisers are likely to to develop knowledge, perhaps about cooking or giving a dinner party. They may like to develop an expertise in a particular sort of cuisine. They may well “love” their kitchen and take care to develop methods of working that they enjoy and feel comfortable with. The idea of a social event will be important to them. More than others they will want to please others without personal gain. They may ask you what food you like! Having a regular pattern of dinner parties will be a good thing. It is a chance for friendship to develop and have a good time.

(Organising mode is based on SF Sensing Feeling (Myers Briggs), Steadiness (Disc), and Earth Green (Insight))

MiRo Behavioural Mode Assessment helps people understand their behaviour and through this increased awareness self development might become possible. It is:

• Simply explained
• Task based
• Easily transferred to the workplace
• Shows links to other major psychometrics allowing for a common language
• Is cost effective

For a group of friends having a dinner party MiRo may help individuals come to terms with conflict that they are feeling. For instance why some people are bored with the present format, why some are competitive, why others are not. How to work well with your partner in kitchen!

Watching Five daughters tv drama based on the Ipswich murders last week, my attention was drawn to the commendation that the Suffolk police were given for the quality of policing they provided during the case. During the drama the emphasis had been about process and detachment. For each new twist there was a procedure to follow and the policemen seemed to either have their motivation and emotion in check or to have lost it somewhere.

If this is contrasted to Ashes to Ashes or indeed any traditional cops vs villains it has been about the characters, their emotions, their relationships, and even their “coppers nose”. Although a comedy, Gene Hunt has become something of a “hero”.  The Labour Party have used a poster of David Cameron sat on an Audi with the phrase “Don’t let him take Britain back into the 1980’s”

The conservatives have responded with

In winning votes the parties are trying to to win votes. Perhaps David Cameron believes that a driven, energetic individual like Gene Hunt appeals to voters. He does get things done even though he clashes with the establishment. He does use intuition over process and although crudely, he motivates and drives those around him.

Gene Hunt – Driver mode engaged, Energiser mode engaged (MiRo Behavioural Mode Assessment). He may prefer to be described as a Fiery Red (Insights) or Dominance (Disc) rather than as a Sunshine Yellow (Insights) or an influencer (Disc). There is no doubt both modes are engaged.

The Labour party are perhaps more in tune with the Suffolk Police. The rational behaviour and tried and tested routines get results without risking lives, reputation and careers. A “safe pair of hands”?

Suffolk Police portrayal – Organiser mode engaged, Analyser mode engaged (MiRo Behavioural Mode Assessment). Are police encouraged to work within the Compliance and steadiness modes (Disc), Cool Blue and green earth modes (Insights), and Sensing thinking and Sensing Feeling (Myers Briggs)?

Miro  Assessment does not set out to suggest which behaviours are best. As individuals we can use the assessment to develop our effectiveness. If Gene Hunt took the test he could choose to accept that some Analyser behaviour and some Organiser behaviour could improve his results. Indeed the heroine Alex Drake compliments Gene Hunt by bringing in modern policing methods. Equally he may also accept that he may need a change of role to where his behaviours are more suitable. He could seek to understand other people and with his Miro report he would have some communication tactics suggested for when he needs to listen or talk with the establishment.