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For individuals
Discover your own talent type and how to make the most of it.
- 60 questions · about 30 minutes
- 36-page personal report, delivered as a PDF
- USD 88.88
TIPS Talent & Innovator Profiling System
Discover your talent type — and how to align it for success in an age of change
TIPS reveals how you prefer to think, work, interact, live, and innovate — and which of 11 talent profiles fits you best. Answer 60 questions in about 30 minutes and receive a 36-page personal report on your strengths, blind spots, career fit, and innovation style.
Used by teams at Axpo, Continental, TRIS Academy, and Brand Connect Asia Pacific.
Two ways to use TIPS
For teams & organizations
Profile your team, map its talent mix, and bring the results to life in a facilitated workshop.
- Team maps by organization, function, region or country
- Questionnaire in English, Thai or German (on request)
- Workshop in person or online
- Scoped with you
What TIPS measures
TIPS looks at two layers. The four TIPS Styles show how you prefer to think, work, interact, and live. They are relatively stable and build on established psychometric constructs. The four TIPS Bases show what energizes your interests and efforts — a new, dynamic construct that is the core novelty of TIPS. The bases connect people to the rhythms of change in business: different bases come to the fore in different phases of a business’s life cycle and of long cycles of innovation.
Together, the static styles and the dynamic bases place you on the TIPS Profiling Map and define your talent profile.
The four TIPS Bases
T — Theories: Rational people who enjoy working with knowledge, numbers, and analysis
I — Ideas: Dynamic, creative types who are passionate about generating new ideas and possibilities and driving change
P — People: Interpersonal connectors who thrive on empathy, collaboration, and social influence
S — Systems: People who value structure, efficiency, and making things work smoothly
Each base has value. None is superior. Business — and innovation in particular — flourishes when all four are understood, respected, and aligned.
The four TIPS Styles
Thinking Style: Figure, Fantasy, or Figure + Fantasy
Work Style: Brain, Brawn, or Brain + Brawn
Interaction Style: Fact, Feeling, or Fact + Feeling
Lifestyle: Form, Flow, or Form + Flow
Styles are preferences, not boxes. Each style is read in three ways — one side, the other, or a combination of both — reflecting how real people work.
The 11 TIPS talent profiles
Each profile has its own strengths, blind spots, and natural environment for peak performance.
Which innovator type are you? →
Theorist
Knowledge and the truth
Ideator
Ideas, innovation, and change
Partner
People and relationships
Systematizer
Systems, structured order, and control
Conceptualizer
The knowledge-based creation of concepts
Promoter
Communicating ideas to people
Organizer
Organized service and efficient operations
Technocrat
The practical application of knowledge
Coach
Developing human potential
Experimenter
Making things better by systematically testing ideas
All-Rounder
Keeping all balls in the air
Your 36-page TIPS report
Sample report: The Partner profile.
- Your results — your TIPS scores, your position on the TIPS Profiling Map, and a short introduction to the method
- TIPS and you — your profile in detail; how you prefer to think, work, interact, and live; your word cloud
- TIPS and you in business — your assets and liabilities, your value contributions, career options that fit (and don’t), how to develop your talents, and well-known people who share your profile
- TIPS and you in innovation — your innovation style, how you contribute to innovation projects, and how your profile connects to X-IDEA, Genius Journey, and CooL
Your assets and liabilities.
Hot or not? Career options that fit your profile.
How the TIPS test works
01
Buy your test
USD 88.88 on the TIPS test platform.
02
Answer 60 questions
In about 25 to 30 minutes. Answer according to how you naturally prefer to think, work, interact, and live — not how you think you should.
03
Receive your report
Your 36-page PDF arrives within 2 to 3 minutes of submitting.
Something not working? Contact us and we will make sure you can complete your test.
TIPS for teams & organizations
When organizations use TIPS, the value comes from seeing the whole team at once. We profile everyone involved, map the results, and bring them to life in a facilitated workshop.
- Team maps for your organization overall, and for functional, regional, or country teams — depending on scope
- A results overview for HR and senior managers, across the organization and by team
- A TIPS workshop, usually in person and also available online, where exercises and games — such as the TIPS Line-Up Games — show how differently people think, work, and innovate, and what that means for your business
- Questionnaire in English, Thai or German (on request)
Organizations use TIPS to:
Team building and team alignment
align teams and improve collaborationHiring and onboarding
hire and onboard people who fit the role and the teamComposing innovation project teams
compose innovation project teamsLeadership and talent development programs
open leadership and talent-development programs with a self-awareness boost
Your people’s results stay theirs. Every participant receives their own full personal report as soon as they complete the test. HR and managers receive the aggregated results overview and team maps — not individual reports.
Tell us about your team
We reply within 2 business days.
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TIPS in action
Continental Tyres (Thailand) — building a culture of creative continuous improvement
In its newest production plant in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor, the tire maker set out to make “continuous creative improvement” part of everyday work. Over a 2.5-year partnership, we TIPS-profiled the top two levels of plant management, trained them in the X-IDEA innovation method, and used TIPS to compose three innovation project teams — each matched to its challenge, from machine maintenance to employee engagement in a 24/7 operation. TIPS then helped select the ten managers and engineers who became the plant’s internal innovation facilitators.
“I don’t know how you picked this group, but I’ve never had such a positive experience working on a project team.” — Head of Plant Engineering
Brand Connect Asia Pacific — realigning people in a scale-up
A fine wines and spirits distributor growing across Southeast Asia and Australasia suspected some people weren’t performing at their potential. Regional TIPS profiling and team mapping showed the company was short of people-oriented profiles just as growth demanded them — and that some team members were miscast. A Theorist country head moved into a regional strategy role. An accountant with a strong Partner profile moved into sales and thrived. A logistics manager close to resigning moved into a client-facing role — and stayed.
“TIPS helped us to better understand what people we have on the team now, how to realign some of our talents to cater to their strengths and cognitive styles, and to identify critical people delivery gaps that we need to deliver on our regional growth strategy.” — Patrick Looram, COO, Brand Connect Asia Pacific
BRASIA — a team that held together when it mattered
In late 2019, this Hong Kong–based consulting firm, with teams across Asia, Europe, and Latin America, asked us to help a culturally diverse, distributed team work together better. A full-day TIPS workshop turned differences in style into a shared language. Five months later, COVID-19 sent everyone home.
“What really helped our team navigate the COVID storm was the TIPS workshop. It gave us a language to relate to each other, to understand our different work styles, and — above all — to respect and rely on each other when it mattered most.” — Samuel Notz, Owner, BRASIA Limited
Also using TIPS
Axpo Solutions (Switzerland) — TIPS became part of hiring for the Advanced Analytics team. For one workshop whose members worked together in Swiss German, we adapted the questionnaire into German. “TIPS is an ideal challenger in the final hiring decision, establishing whether a profile complements the team in the best way.” — Dr. Gaudenz Koeppel, Chief Analytics Officer
TRIS Academy (Thailand) — TIPS opens an executive program for leaders from Thai public enterprises: six workshops, 40 senior executives each, with the questionnaire in Thai.
Viva Creative Studio (Thailand) — “It was like someone turned on the lights and showed us the blueprint of what we had built.” — Anond Charutrakulchai, Co-Founder
What people say about TIPS
Knowing yourself
“The TIPS report is useful for recognizing strengths and, more importantly, identifying areas for personal development…” — John Baratta, Innovation Transition & Operations Director, NIKE Inc., USA
“I’ve just bought personality analysis pack from 16Personality, but TIPS can provide me a more interesting and deeper analysis about my creativity style… especially the ‘Assets & Liabilities’ summary!” — Chanin Tangsanakun, Head of Space Range and Transformation, Tesco Lotus, Thailand
“Looking at the TIPS results was like a personal ‘epiphany.’ All of a sudden, I became consciously aware of who I am and what I am made for.” — Beatrice Gosert, Creative Entrepreneur
Team building and alignment
“For companies, TIPS enables leaders to select the best possible team for specific innovation stages, which can have an immediate impact on the organization.” — Grant Wood, CEO, KNotion Labs, USA
“It’s amazing to see our production team step up, take on new roles… fully embracing the people-oriented stretch out of their comfort zone.” — Matthias Hoffrichter, Managing Director, Ruwac Asia
Hiring
“We now use TIPS for key recruitment decisions. It gives us essential insights that go beyond interviews and résumés.” — Mathijs Aliet, Founder & CEO, Square 44, Thailand & Singapore
Coaching and leadership programs
“TIPS excels in creating better understanding, clearer communication and increased productivity.” — Judy Zimmer, Executive Coach, USA
“It’s a fabulous tool in creating self-awareness and a top-performer profile.” — Ploynitcha Jaruhirunsakul, Vice President, TRIS Academy of Management, Thailand
Value
“The price/performance ratio is really great compared to other similar tools.” — Andreas Bertaggia, Vice President, Head of Global Supply Chain Management, Bossard Group, Switzerland
The research behind TIPS
TIPS was created by Dr. Detlef Reis, founder of Thinkergy, from his innovation consulting work with corporate clients. It was introduced in a peer-reviewed paper at the ISPIM Innovation Forum (Boston, 2016). Subsequent published research examined how TIPS-based team composition affects collaboration and solution quality.
Reis, D. (2016). TIPS: Getting the people-side of innovation right. ISPIM Innovation Forum, Boston, USA.
Parisot, X., Reis, D., Hunt, B., & Mohammad, N. (2018). Empowering the development centered paradigm using TIPS cognitive test. Paper presented at ICMLG 2018, 6th International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance, Bangkok, Thailand.
See all publications →Different by design
TIPS stands on the shoulders of pioneers in people profiling, such as Carl Jung, Isabel Myers, Ned Herrmann, and Michael Kirton. It was designed for a different purpose: helping people and organizations contribute to business and innovation in a fast-changing economy.
| Design choice | Typical legacy tools | TIPS |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 1–4 constructs | Multilayered: 4 Styles + 4 Bases |
| Scoring | Binary either/or | Trinary styles with an in-between option |
| Close calls | A 51–49 margin still forces a type | A neutral All-Rounder profile |
| Questionnaire | 9 to 100+ questions | 60 questions |
| Profiles | 2 to 49+ types | 11, easy to recall |
| Names | Codes and acronyms | Business roles: Theorist, Ideator, Promoter… |
| Purpose | Self-description | Built for careers, hiring, teams, and innovation |
| Business context | Static | Dynamic bases linked to business life cycles and long cycles of innovation |
| Motivation | Traits and behavior | Adds four dynamic Bases — the why behind the how |
| Assessment | Some rely on 360° peer input | Self-assessment of your natural style |
Go deeper: the TIPS book
TIPS — The Talent and Innovator Profiling System
Discover Your Talent Type and Lead, Team, and Innovate in an Age of Change
By Dr. Detlef Reis
The complete guide to TIPS — the bases, the styles, all 11 talent profiles, and how to apply them to careers, teams, hiring, and innovation, with real case studies.
Thanks. We’ll email you once when the book is out.
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We’ll email you once when the book is out — no spam.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the TIPS test take?
The test has 60 questions and usually takes 25 to 30 minutes. Some people finish in about 20.
What do I receive?
A 36-page personal PDF report, delivered within 2 to 3 minutes of submitting your answers.
Is TIPS a personality test?
TIPS profiles your preferences — what energizes you and how you prefer to think, work, interact, and live. These are preferences, not boxes: you can act differently when needed, but your preferred way is the one that energizes rather than drains you.
Can my profile change over time?
Many people who retake TIPS land in the same profile. For some, results shift slightly with their work, role, or environment — typically only one step from their “home base.” If you take the test more than once, your dashboard shows your profile history.
How is TIPS different from MBTI, DISC, or HBDI?
TIPS builds on earlier profiling tools but was designed for business and innovation: trinary rather than binary styles, 11 profiles with business-role names, and a link to the phases of the business life cycle. See “Different by design” above.
What research is TIPS based on?
TIPS was introduced in a peer-reviewed paper at the ISPIM Innovation Forum in 2016, and its use in team composition has been studied in published research. See “The research behind TIPS” above.
Can we use TIPS in hiring?
Yes. Reference checks, interviews, and case assignments are helpful, but they miss one dimension: cognitive style fit. TIPS adds that dimension to your existing process — Axpo, for example, uses it in the final hiring decision for its Advanced Analytics team.
Who sees the results in a team engagement?
HR and senior managers receive team maps and a results overview for the organization and its teams. Employers do not receive each individual’s full personal report.
Is TIPS available in other languages?
The individual online test is offered in English. For team and corporate engagements, the questionnaire is also available in Thai and German (on request), so participants can answer in the language they think in. All participants receive the full report in English; Thai participants also receive a short Thai-language feedback summary.
What if something goes wrong with my test?
Contact us. We will resolve the issue and, if needed, issue you a new test coupon so you can complete your profile.
Who created TIPS?
Dr. Detlef Reis, founder of Thinkergy and creator of an innovation know-how platform comprising four integrated innovation methods: X-IDEA, Genius Journey, CooL, and TIPS. He brings more than 20 years of innovation consulting experience and is a long-time faculty member and innovation researcher teaching at the master’s and Ph.D. levels at various Asian business schools, including Bangkok University’s IKI-SEA, Hong Kong Baptist University’s School of Business, Mahidol University’s College of Management, and SASIN School of Management. He holds a Ph.D. from Saarland University, Germany.
Discover your talent type
Thirty minutes. Sixty questions. A clearer picture of how you create value — and where you shine.