QUESTIONS ABOUT WORKING WITH PRINT®

“Unconscious Motivators®” are the reasons why we behave as we do. They are the hidden, core underlying needs that drive us. They operate at an unconscious level, and when we learn what our Unconscious Motivators are, they are often a surprise. However, they are a strong driving force behind our behaviours and decisions.
The research behind the PRINT® model has identified 9 Unconscious Motivators®. We each have a Major and Minor Unconscious Motivator®. A best estimate at this time is that about 70%-85% of your motivational makeup is explained by your Major. Adding your Minor is estimated to account for a total of about 90%-95%.

“Best Self”: We describe someone as being in their “Best Self” when they are behaving in ways that are productive, appropriate and that allow their talents and strengths to shine through. Best Self behaviours improve relationships, reduce frustration, build teamwork and trust, enhance morale, support innovation and increase productivity.

“Shadow Behaviour” is an extreme, exaggerated and often inappropriate attempt to satisfy Unconscious Motivators®. It masks our natural talents and strengths. Shadow Behaviours damage relationships, create frustration, stifle teamwork, erode trust, destroy morale, limit innovation and undermine productivity.
“Triggers” are actions and events that have the high potential to disengage us and put us into our Shadow state. Triggers may be verbal or non-verbal, intentional or unintentional, conscious or unconscious.

We all have our own set of Triggers, unique to our PRINT® – an action that may be deeply triggering to one person can have little or no effect on another.
When we are unprepared and unequipped to manage them, Triggers have the potential to send us straight into Shadow.

These programs do an exceptional job of describing and categorizing behaviour, and you learn how to better match yourself to situations, get along with others and be your most productive self. However, recognizing your likes and dislikes doesn’t create peak performance. PRINT® targets the root cause of problematic behavior so you can stay in your Best Self. That’s why PRINT® was designed as the next step after traditional assessments.

PRINT® begins with an assessment survey, which will take between 5 and 15 minutes to complete. Each individual within the programme completes the survey, and will receive their report within 3 working days.
Depending on the end goal of your programme, your PRINT® coach will have designed an action plan to embed the learning and agree action plans. This will typically take the form of a series of workshops and coaching sessions over a period of time.

Additionally, soon after a team has completed their reports, an entertaining and learning enriched workshop will be scheduled to share and understand the powerful impact of PRINT® in the workplace.

The goal and purpose of PRINT® is to increase “Best Self” behavior in the workplace – so it has been successfully applied to many different applications. Past clients of PRINT® have benefited from projects designed to work on:

• Addressing a Team Goal
• Motivating Team Members
• Recruiting and Retaining Excellent Talent
• Better Career Selection
• Increasing Personal Productivity
• Overcoming Resistance to Change
• Boosting Innovation and Conquering Thinking Traps
• Increasing Sales Effectiveness
• Successful Design and Implementation of Plans and Projects
• Leading Out of One’s Comfort Zone
• Developing Exceptional Leaders
• Building High Performance Teams
• Creating an Awe-Inspiring Workforce
• Career Development

You can visit our “Case Studies” page for more inspiration.

QUESTIONS ABOUT PRINT® AND YOU

Once your Major PRINT® has been established it pretty much stays the same over the course of your life. Obviously the behaviours you exhibit over time can change, but the Major PRINT® stays the same. The Minor PRINT® may not be as fixed. Though probably not very likely, it may change over time.

Traditional thinking suggested that “personality” is formed by the time you are 5 years old. Newer research indicates that one’s Unconscious Motivators® and behavioural makeup continues to evolve until early adolescence.

This is a very common question. We hear people say things like “I’m a 7 now but I want to become a 1.” The reality is no one PRINT® is better than any other PRINT®. Every PRINT® has the tremendous capability of being successful in any endeavour. It is the amount and frequency of Best Self that determines your success. If you really want to improve, don’t look at the benefits of another PRINT® – examine how you can increase your Best Self behaviour.

No. Each PRINT® has inherent partnering, parenting and leadership strengths and weaknesses.. In fact, each PRINT® makes significant contributions to these roles. To be your best in any of these roles means being in Best Self and reducing Shadow Behaviour as much as possible regardless of your PRINT®.

Any two PRINTs® have areas of compatibility and attraction as well as potential areas of conflict. Every PRINT® combination has their own ways of triggering each other. How well people get along is more determined by the amount of Best Self and Shadow Behaviour that is present. It’s Shadow Behaviour that undermines relationships.

Two people of the same PRINT® may understand one another more quickly. But this does not mean they will get along better. How well people get along (whether of the same or different PRINT®) is determined by degree and frequency of Best Self and Shadow Behaviour and adherence to the Platinum Rule (“Treat others the way they want to be treated”).

Any PRINT® can be successful at any job as long as the person is able to exhibit their Best Self traits. That being said, we do have natural tendencies that cause us to gravitate to certain jobs or responsibilities. And job satisfaction is higher when we are getting our Unconscious Motivator® needs met in the position. When our Unconscious Motivator® needs are being met, we are less likely to be Triggered into Shadow so it is easier to perform at our best. We are going with the flow rather than having to compensate.

Yes. Although they may have similar views of the world, their actual interaction style is caused by many factors. Subtle differences are caused by:

• Strength of the Minor
• Which specific Best Self and Shadow Behaviours are exhibited
• Frequency of Best Self and Shadow Behaviour
• Their specific Triggers.

The Minor influences your Major by:

• Strengthening the behaviours of the Major that are the same
• Softening the behaviours of the Major that are opposite
• Providing strategies and behaviours to get the Unconscious Motivator® of the Major met
• The Minor Unconscious Motivator® also needs to be met

Yes. People may have elements of a number of Unconscious Motivators® or even all of the Unconscious Motivators®. But we all have one that is dominant (our Major) and one that is secondary (our Minor). Our estimate is that probably beyond three (or four) Unconscious Motivators® there isn’t much influence.

A best estimate at this time is that about 70%-85% of your motivational makeup is explained by your Major. Adding your Minor is estimated to account for a total of about 90%-95%.

Different PRINTs® sometimes exhibit similar or the same behaviour, but the reason why they do it is different because their Unconscious Motivators® are different.

There are other behavioural models, but they are personality models (using an iceberg analogy – they describe above the water line characteristics). PRINT® provides a comprehensive picture of an individual, explaining the “why” of behaviour (Unconscious Motivator®). It is a model of motivation and explains a person’s motivational identity.

In addition, understanding PRINT® (one’s own PRINT® and that of others) and adopting strategies that prevent the triggering of others, leads to improving relationships, productivity, teamwork as well as personal improvement by reducing Shadow behaviour.

As children, we try different strategies to get our Unconscious Motivator® needs met (including attention from our parents). By trial and error we learn that some Shadow Behaviour works – for example, acting out. Over time, the Shadow Behaviours that work become habits or patterns that are part of how we operate. Research has determined that since we have classified this Shadow behaviour as “good” (it helps us get what we want), we actually receive a brain reward in the form of endorphins when we do Shadow Behaviour.

The Shadow Behaviour might be modified as we grow up (we now yell at someone rather than throw a tantrum and scream on the floor as we did when we were little), but it has become automatic. When we are stressed and when we don’t get our needs met, or when we are Triggered and we don’t get our needs met, our Shadow Behaviour tends to come out.

Best Self behaviour requires not just a “me” mentality but a “we” mentality. This means we can’t just think of ourselves and go on automatic pilot. We must be tuned into and conscious of what others might want, and what the impact might be of our behaviour (and words) on others.

Although we sometimes do this automatically, more often it requires consciousness, communication and effort as it is not easy to know what others might want and how what we want will be affecting them. Knowing others PRINTs helps us do that. In Best Self we may need to make the choice to modify or abandon what we want for the best interest of all. This also requires a conscious decision. So Best Self behaviour is not automatic.

However, our research indicates that when we practice Best Self behaviours instead of Shadow behaviour, the Best Self Behaviour gets the endorphin-based brain rewards and therefore becomes automatic.

Shadow Behaviour is an ingrained pattern and has been automatic for a long time. We also get powerful brain rewards for doing this Shadow Behaviour. Shadow Behaviour can be reduced fairly easily with some tools and effort, but it is very difficult to do so without them.

PRINT® is a dynamic tool for enhancing communication, productivity, motivation and relationships. It improves interactions throughout the workplace. PRINT® can increase job satisfaction and morale. PRINT® is invaluable in providing self-insight and self-development. In addition, PRINT® is valuable in team building and development, resolving conflicts and leadership development. By reducing Shadow behaviour, PRINT® is a transformational methodology.

Any system, even a good one, can be misused. However, we naturally categorise all the time. We view individuals as man/woman; older/younger; blonde/brunette; taller/shorter; well-dressed/not well-dressed. Of course, we try to look beyond our simple categorisations to the human being beyond them.

When we put people into categories we are simply trying to make some sense and order out of what we observe. But every person is unique. People with the same PRINT®, even though they have much in common, are still unique. And although they have the same PRINT®-specific Best Self behaviour “list” to choose from, they will not choose exactly the identical Best Self behaviour; although they have the same PRINT®-specific Shadow Behaviour “list” to choose from, they will not choose exactly the identical Shadow Behaviour; and they will exhibit these Best Self and Shadow Behaviours in different frequencies and perhaps in different situations. The strength of their Minor can also contribute to their uniqueness.

So even though their commonalities outweigh their differences, people with the same PRINT® are still unique. Just as no two snowflakes are alike yet they have much in common, no two people are alike in all ways. The best way to think of PRINT® is as a powerful guide or tool to use when interacting with other people, and a transformational tool for improvement.