I Used to Call It Being Dutch

I used to explain my directness with one word. Dutch. Short answers. No warm-up. If you need something from me, ask.

I took a DISC assessment and came back High C. Conscientious. I admitted what the score was showing me. That Dutch directness is my C-style. I want the ask, the answer, and then space to focus. My meetings skip the chit-chat for the same reason.

Sound familiar? If you are a high-Conscientious type, you probably want a clear agenda. You want to work on a project without getting interrupted for small talk. You want the request and the answer, then you want to get back to the work. That preference is about efficiency and accuracy.

Run your next meeting with a strict agenda and no small talk. See if it increases your focus.

How someone walks into the conversation

Have you already decided what a skipped hello means?

Each style has an entry point, and the differences are practical. A Steadiness type often needs a social buffer before they can give you a report. Ask how they are, then ask for the update. A Conscientious type wants you to ask for the report and then leave them alone to finish the work. A Dominant type might not say good morning, because they are focused on the big picture.

Style also shows up in how people handle feedback and interruption. Knowing the entry point keeps you from taking the interaction personally. I live in the C version of this. Ask for the thing. Then give me the room to do it.

Observe a colleague’s style this week. Adjust your next interaction so it matches their preference.

Anyone can do the job

Avoid pigeonholing hires by behavioral style. A Dominant type might seem like the natural leader. An Influence type might seem like the natural salesperson. Also avoid assuming all business owners are D-types.

Anyone can do anything. The difference is the effort required. A Conscientious type can be a great salesperson. They will need to work harder to be spontaneous and social than an I type. Hire for the skill and the interest. Then coach them on how to bridge the style gap.

Review your hiring criteria. Select for skill and interest. Coach the style gap once the person is in the role.

A shared vocabulary

I use Kolbe at Asian Efficiency. DISC is another common lens. Different assessments, and both point to the moment that matters. Behaviors are styles.

The assessment gives the team a shared language for friction. A teammate who is low quick start needs detail. A teammate who is high quick start needs the vision. Once everyone can say that out loud, “why is this person so slow?” turns into “this person needs more context to start.” You assign the work based on cognitive preference.

Implement a team assessment. Use the shared words the next time a task stalls at the starting line.

Find the who

Knowing your gaps lets you find the right help faster.

Your job is to identify who can solve the problem. If you don’t know how to do a technical task, find the person who does, or the resource that does, and delegate. You grow faster because you are using expertise that already exists.

Identify one task you have been doing yourself. Delegate it to a specialist.

Three goals and a real stop

How do you know when the workday is actually over?

A daily reset can hold the work and a personal life in the same day. Set three main goals for the day. If you complete those three, you have earned the rest of the day.

Three goals are how you combat the overwhelm of a busy day. They create a finish line. Cross it, and the day has an ending, which cuts the always-on feeling and leaves room for genuine work-life balance. The reset holds up across behavioral styles.

Try the 3-goal rule for one week. Set three in the morning. Finish them, and take the rest of the day as earned.

Match the tool to the style

Self-awareness is the ultimate productivity hack. Know your specific behavioral style, and you can work with your nature.

I’m High C. That result explains my no-chit-chat meeting style. I want the request first, and I want space after it.

A Conscientious type who loves lists and agendas will thrive with a list-based app like OmniFocus. A visual thinker might prefer Trello. The right system is the one that matches your brain.

Take a behavioral assessment. DISC, Kolbe, or MBTI. Then ask whether the system you already use fits that result.

From remembering appointments to correcting course

Separate an older time-management problem from the one you have now. In the 90s, the challenge was remembering appointments. Today, the challenge is the sheer volume of external input. Emails, pings, notifications. That volume forces you to make micro-decisions constantly.

The speed of life forces quicker course corrections than it used to. Time management has changed from tracking to speed correction. You still schedule. You also filter signal from noise, and you decide when to put the phone down so you can protect deep work.

Audit your daily interruptions. Find where the noise gets in. Then pick one stretch of the day and put the phone down.

Tomorrow, run one meeting with a strict agenda and no small talk. Just that. Notice your focus when you get back to the work.