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The Self-Destruction Aptitude Test measures the likelihood that your parents’ worst fears for you will come true, based on your performance in four areas:
- Problem Solving Style: How you use that gray matter between your ears.
- Personal Drive: How driven you are.
- Interpersonal Engagement: How you handle social interactions.
- Management Approach: How you handle sitting in the proverbial Big Chair.
The SDAT (Lite) is for your amusement only. You are as likely to get meaningful data from your local tarot card reader as you are from the SDAT. Do not make any important life decisions based on your results of this little test... because then you really would self-destruct, and, while the pinnacle of irony, that would be tragic. No one wants you to fail, especially not me.
If you need real career counseling, start with How to Self-Destruct, and if that’s not enough, send an email to teamcoach@seidenleadership.com. We’ll get you hooked up with something a little more potent than an internet survey... probably starting with the full blown SDAT, a heavy duty assesment product that was developed by myself and two PhD's (named Ed and George) who are experts in assessment and test development. The real SDAT is currently being used, under a different name, by stodgy organizations around the world as a pre-coaching diagnostic tool for senior managers, and has been for over four years.
Under each header below, you will find four paired statements. For each pair, pick the statement that fits you better. (You won’t like all the options. Sometimes, you'll like them both. That’s by design; the idea is to force you to choose. Just pick one.)
Each statement you pick will be labelled A or B. For each section, count the number of A statements you have selected. At the bottom of the page is a link to an answer page that will help you translate your counts into an assessment of your self-destruction aptitude.
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Column A |
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Column B |
1 |
I prefer to come up with the big idea for the whole team. |
or |
I prefer to roll up my sleeves and get the work done. |
2 |
I prefer environments that are loose and flexible. |
or |
I prefer environments that are structured and organized. |
3 |
I maximize my personal worth by hitting my long term goal(s). |
or |
I maximize my personal worth by consistently hitting my short term goals. |
4 |
I prefer to use a creative and non-linear process when working through an issue. |
or |
I prefer to follow a linear, step-by-step process when working through an issue. |
| Note how many times you preferred the "A" column option for Problem Solving Style. |
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Column A |
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Column B |
1 |
All things being equal, working hard is more important than talent. |
or |
All things being equal, talent is more important than hard work. |
2 |
I prefer high pressure situations because they bring out my best. |
or |
I avoid high pressure situations because they bring out my worst. |
3 |
Getting the politics right is an important and inevitable part of my job. |
or |
Politics are useless games that pull me away from my real work. |
4 |
I relax by checking things off my list. |
or |
I relax by putting my list aside. |
| Note how many times you preferred the "A" column option for Personal Drive. |
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Column A |
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Column B |
1 |
Being around lots of people gets exhausting. |
or |
Being around lots of people is exhilarating. |
2 |
I give energy to others. |
or |
I get my energy from being around others. |
3 |
Business is about results first. |
or |
Business is about people first. |
4 |
Power is more imoprtant thatn the ability to influence. |
or |
The ability to influence is more important than power. |
| Note how many times you preferred the "A" column option for Interpersonal Engagement. |
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Column A |
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Column B |
1 |
Management would be tricky even if everyone did their jobs flawlessly. |
or |
Management is easy when people do what they are asked to do. |
2 |
Status updates are a good thing... and the more, the better. |
or |
No news is good news; my team will let me know if a problem arises. |
3 |
When in doubt, I call the shot because I'm the boss and that's my job. |
or |
When in doubt, I hold a vote because my job is harness others' expertise. |
4 |
Great managers treat everyone equitably. |
or |
Great managers treat everyone equally. |
| Note how many times you preferred the "A" column option for Management Approach. |
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