Driver Questionnaire

DRIVER QUESTIONNAIRE

Take each of the numbers in turn. Among the five items pick out the one, which is the most
true for you and give it a high mark (between 7 and 10) in the box opposite. Then take the
statement, which is the least true for you and give it a low mark (between 0 and 3). Then
arrange the other three statements between, giving each of them a mark, which ranks them
between your highest and lowest. The first set may take you some time, but once you have
the system going, work steadily at the rest. From there it should be half an hour or so. If you
do it in less than 20 minutes, that’s amazing. If it takes more than an hour you are trying too
hard.

Score

1. A Endurance is a valuable asset A

B I like to see people doing their best to get things right B

C Considering all the effort I put into things I should get C

more done

D I find myself doing too many things at the last minute D

E On balance I adapt more to other peoples wishes than E

they do to mine

2. A Casualness and carelessness bothers me A

B Its keeping on doing things that interests me more than B

finishing them

C When people are slow about saying something I want to C

interrupt or finish the sentence

D I have a fair amount of imagination when it comes to D

guessing what people need

E When someone gets emotional my reaction is often to E

make a joke of it or else be critical
Driver Questionnaire

3. A I don’t mind things being hard – I can always find the A

energy

B I prefer to use just the minimum necessary time to get to B

a place

C If someone doesn’t like me I either try hard to get them C

to like me or I walk away

D Its rare for me to feel hurt D

E If it’s a question of doing something properly I’d rather E

do it myself

4. A I get impatient with slow people A

B Normally I prefer to take peoples wishes into account B

before deciding something

C I show a calm face even when my feelings are running C

high

D I don’t like making excuses for poor work D

E There’s something about coming to the end of a job I E

don’t like

5. A I put a lot of effort into things A

B Sometimes its better to just do something and leave the B

discussion till later

C I’m cautious about asking favours C

D I don’t let people look after me very much D

E I sometimes find it hard to stop myself correcting people E

Driver Questionnaire

6. A. Sometimes I talk too quickly A

B I’m uncomfortable when people are upset or displeased B

with me

C I dislike people making a fuss about things C

D Things can always be improved on D

E I don’t believe in the ‘easy way’ E

7. A I think I do a lot to be considerate towards others A

B I usually manage to cope even when I feel I’ve had more B

than enough

C I prefer doing things really well even if it takes longer C

D I tend to start things then gradually lose energy or D

interest

E I want to get a whole lot of things finished, then I run out E

of time

8. A I’m not what you call soft A

B I prefer to do things right first time than have to re-do B

them

C I sometimes repeat myself because I’m not sure I’ve C

been understood

D My energy is often at its highest when I have a lot of D

things to do

E It’s quite hard to say no when someone really wants E

something
Driver Questionnaire

9 A I like to use words correctly A

B I like exploring a variety of alternatives before getting B

started

C It’s quite like me to be already thinking of the next thing C

before I’ve finished the last

D When I’m sure someone likes me I’m more at ease D

E I can put up with a great deal without anyone realising it E

10 A People who just want to get finished with something A

tend to irritate me

B I prefer to just plunge into something rather than have a B

plan

C If a person doesn’t know what I want I’d rather not have C

to ask directly

D Other people start whining and complaining before I do D

E I prefer to correct myself than have other people correct E

me

11 A If I had 20% more time I could relax more A

B I often smile and nod when people talk to me B

C When people get excited I can stay very cool and rational C

D I can do something well and still be critical of myself D

E There are so many things to take into account it can be E

hard to get to the end of something
Driver Questionnaire

12 A I have a good intuitive sense if someone likes me or not A

B I think duty and reason pay off better than emotion in B

the long run

C I tend to see quickly how something could be improved C

D Some people have a habit of over-simplifying things D

E Sometimes the more there is to do, the more I get done E

 Driver Questionnaire

SCORING

1. Transfer your scores to this sheet

1.A BS 2.A BP 3.A TH 4.A HU

B BP B TH B HU B PP
C TH C HU C PP C BS
D HU D PP D BS D BP
E PP E BS E BP E TH

5.A TH 6.A HU 7.A PP 8.A BS

B HU B PP B BS B BP
C PP C BS C BP C TH
D BS D BP D TH D HU
E BP E TH E HU E PP

9.A BP 10A TH 11A HU 12A PP

B TH B HU B PP B BS
C HU C PP C BS C BP
D PP D BS D BP D TH
E BS E BP E TH E HU

2 Total all your scores under each driver below

BS BP TH HU PP

T TOTAL
Driver Questionnaire

3 Write the total scores for each Driver in the summary panel below

TOTAL SCORE
BS BE STRONG
BP BE PERFECT
TH TRY HARD
HU HURRY UP
PP PLEASE PEOPLE

Further information – Drivers

Working Styles

Be Strong

Staying calm under any amount of pressure but won’t ask for help and must be seen to cope
with everything

Be Perfect

Checking that work is totally accurate but may appear nit-picking, self-critical and provides
too much detail. They see others as slap-dash and find decision making difficult.

Try Hard

Enthusiastically having a go at anything but may not finish what they start, often repeat
themselves and talk in a very detailed way.

Hurry Up

Doing everything as quickly as possible but may appear impatient, interrupt others, and likely
to make mistakes.

Please People

Helpful, aiming to get approval from everyone but scared to challenge and may appear
sycophantic.

We can assess likely working styles by observing behaviour and by listening to sentence
patterns. Be Strongs sound fairly monotonous and tend to call themselves ‘one’ (like the
Royal Family); Be Perfects by careful grammar and use of long words; Try Hards go off on
tangents as they think of things while talking; Hurry Ups are characterised by talking fast and
interrupting; Please Peoples make most of what they say sound like questions (in case you
don’t like it).
Facilitators who have a Be Strong style may appear remote and out of touch. Their tendency
to act like a poker player makes it hard for set members to get to know them. Their lack of
Driver Questionnaire

emotional response discourages members from opening up; no-one wants to admit
weaknesses or raise concerns with people who seem to have their own lives under so much
control. A major advantage of Be Strong facilitators, however, is their calmness. If a set
member does open up to them, they will react equably to even the most shocking
revelations, making it easier for other members to discuss traumatic events. Facilitators with
this style will also be good at handling emotional outbursts from members, helping them to
move on to practical problem solving once they have vented their feelings.

Be Perfect facilitators like to do things properly. They will plan the learning set process itself,
start and finish sessions exactly on time, keep careful notes and stimulate the set members
to give careful consideration to the full range of factors affecting their development.
Unfortunately, if they overdo this style the set members will end up spending so long
drawing up the perfect action plan that the set grows old together before anything gets
actioned.

The Try Hard facilitator’s main strength is enthusiasm. These people will approach the role
of facilitator energetically, keen to cover all aspects. They are likely to encourage the set
members to get as much as possible from the process, including using spot mentors,
experimenting with new approaches to learning set facilitation and trying out new ideas
between sessions. They will also prompt set members to apply the process to family and
social life and not just to set meetings and work. The danger here is that the set members
are encouraged to change on too many fronts at once. Try Hard facilitators may generate
ideas excessively – and may lose interest before action plans have been effectively
formulated. They may go off on tangents, raising so many suggestions that none are
properly explored and evaluated.

Hurry Up facilitators are likely to arrive late for set meetings, get impatient and interrupt set
members during the session, keep looking at their watch and probably want to finish early
because they are already late for their next meeting. On the other hand they may well
impart a sense of urgency to the set, they will be usually willing to fit in extra sessions at the
last minute if the set has a crisis or needs to change scheduled meetings and they may even
agree to facilitate several sets because they are good at getting things done.

Please People facilitators may be reluctant to challenge their set members or controlling the
time when members are presenting, in case they upset them. Or they may discourage
members from taking action in case they upset someone else or they may flip to parental
state and accuse the set of upsetting them. On good days, however, the Please People
facilitator will be sensitive and intuitive, picking up signs of doubt or discomfort on the part
of set members, demonstrating empathy and generally establishing a warm and close bond.