People with strong Discipline talents are at their best when they are bringing order and stability to chaos or mess.

Discipline®

A theme in the Executing domain of CliftonStrengths

People exceptionally talented in the Discipline theme enjoy routine and structure. Their world is best described by the order they create.

 

Full Theme Description

Your world needs to be predictable. It needs to be ordered and planned. So you instinctively impose structure on your world.

You set up routines. You focus on timelines and deadlines. You break long-term projects into a series of specific short-term plans, and you work through each plan diligently. You are not necessarily neat and clean, but you do need precision.

Faced with the inherent messiness of life, you want to feel in control. The routines, the timelines, the structure, all of these help create this feeling of control. Lacking this theme of Discipline, others may sometimes resent your need for order, but there need not be conflict.

You must understand that not everyone feels your urge for predictability; they have other ways of getting things done. Likewise, you can help them understand and even appreciate your need for structure.

Your dislike of surprises, your impatience with errors, your routines, and your detail orientation don't need to be misinterpreted as controlling behaviours that box people in. Rather, these behaviours can be understood as your instinctive method for maintaining your progress and your productivity in the face of life's many distractions.

 

This Theme’s Power and Edge

People with strong Discipline talents love things that are organised and orderly. They meet deadlines. And they can efficiently manage limited resources. They bring a high level of organisation, order and stability to the projects and groups in which they work.

 

How People with Strong Discipline Talents Describe Themselves

  • "I am a meticulous organiser."

  • "I need a structured and organised environment."

  • "I love things that are organised and orderly."

  • "I hate chaos, confusion and improvising."

  • "I bring precision and detail orientation."

 

Theme Contrast

Discipline “I meet deadlines because it makes me feel good.”
Responsibility “I meet deadlines because it makes others respect me.”
Discipline Can’t see the forest for the trees
Connectedness Can’t see the trees for the forest
 

Discipline Helps and Hinders

Helps

  • Your natural inclination to focus on the fine points and create structure enable you to approach tasks in an orderly and well-planned manner.

  • You can easily sift through the clutter and chaos and create order, giving you an efficiency that can be leveraged for greater productivity.

  • Your attention to detail enables you to see errors, mistakes and inconsistencies others might miss, making you a valuable asset to your team in addressing potential problems.

  • As a team leader, you bring structure, process and order to your team's work habits and project execution.

Hinders

  • Your need to stick to a schedule may cause others to perceive you as rigid or inflexible. Understand that sometimes exceptions need to be made.

  • If you lead a team, you should check in with your team periodically to see what adjustments may need to be made to improve the team's processes.

  • Not everything that happens is predictable. When the unexpected happens, find a way to adjust your routine to address the challenge or opportunity unexpected occurrences bring.

  • You develop frameworks that enable projects to get off the ground and run smoothly. Be careful that your framework does not become a prison; be open to new suggestions that might improve implementation.

 

If Discipline is a Dominant Theme for You, Take Action to Maximise Your Potential

  • Find structured roles and responsibilities.

  • Check to ensure that tasks and projects are completed in the right way and on time. You feel an urge to do it anyway, and soon enough, others will begin to expect it of you.

  • Learn how to use a time-management system to help you be even more efficient and give you more confidence.

  • Create routines that help you follow through systematically. Share your detailed lists of tasks, goals and timelines with your colleagues. It will help the entire group become more efficient.

  • Help others organise their lives. If you do this respectfully, people will appreciate it.

  • Recognise that few people are as disciplined as you. More than likely, their disordered processes will frustrate you. Try to assess them on their results, not on their methods.

  • Explain your Discipline theme to your colleagues. Initially, they might resent your meticulousness, but once you have explained how it works for you, do not be afraid to let your perfectionism show. Others will want to see it in action.

  • Recognise that mistakes might discourage you. Precision is a fundamental part of you; however, you must find ways to move beyond moments when you feel discouraged.

 

Potential Blind Spots to Watch Out for

  • Because of your need for predictability and control, others might view you as rigid and inflexible. Try not to automatically dismiss ideas that do not directly fit into the neat framework you have created.

  • As much as you thrive on structure and organisation, others thrive on the freedom to innovate. Be careful about expecting others to follow any structure you put in place.

 

If Discipline Is a Lesser Theme for You

Words like “structure,” “rigor” and “order” may seem foreign to you, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get things done. Your accomplishments and successes in your life and career provide clues to your best means of setting and meeting your goals.

  • Among your top themes, find those that can help you make each day count, even if you don’t know what that day might bring. Focus, Consistency, Achiever or Arranger talents may help you get things done.

  • You might be bored with the same schedule every day; however, your daily well-being or work efficiency might improve by creating a few routines. Identify the most important priorities in your life, and schedule recurring time (daily or weekly) to devote to them.

  • Lean on trusted advisers to help you identify needs and build routines. Schedule time to discuss tasks or issues that need attention. Analyze the situation to determine if these issues could be addressed by creating routines or procedures that help improve efficiency or effectiveness.

  • You may be able to rely on technology. Time management or task management programs could help you plan and organise your days, weeks and months.

 
 

Source: Gallup®

 
 

“A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days … a mock-up for reason and order.”

— Annie Dillard, author