Looking for an HBDI alternative for your team?
The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument is a memorable way to talk about thinking preferences and cognitive diversity. If you want a framework rooted in how people prefer to work and how that builds into a team. Here is how the TMS Global suite compares.
What the HBDI measures
The HBDI maps thinking preferences using a four-quadrant whole-brain model, with a focus on cognitive diversity and communication. It was developed in the United States by Herrmann International.
What TMS Global offers
Where the HBDI describes how people prefer to think, the TMS suite describes how people prefer to work — and turns that into team roles, coverage and the broader factors a team depends on:
| TMS Global product | What it focuses on |
| Team Management Profile (TMP) | How people prefer to work, mapped to eight team roles and the Types of Work a team must cover |
| QO2 (Opportunities-Obstacles Profile) | How people approach risk, change and challenge — their balance of seeing opportunities and obstacles |
| Windows on Work Values (WoWV) | The core work values that shape how a person and a team operate |
| Linking Leader Profile (LLP|360) | 360-degree feedback on the Linking Skills effective leaders use to connect a team |
| Team Signals | A regular team-level check on how the team is working together |
| TeamOS | An always-on digital platform that brings TMS insights together and turns them into clear, everyday actions — with AI coaching to support continuous team development. |
The research behind the Team Management Profile
The figures below relate specifically to the TMP, the flagship instrument the suite is built around.
- Reviewed by the British Psychological Society (2003, updated from 1995 and 2000 reviews).
- Backed by 40+ years of research and 100+ published research papers.
- Validated across 683,000+ individual responses and 159 professions.
- Trusted by 2.5+ million professionals across 190 countries.
- Developed in Australia (Queensland) by Dr Charles Margerison and Dr Dick McCann.
Source: Team Management Profile — tms.global
How the suite maps to the HBDI
| If the HBDI gives you… | TMS Global adds… |
| A four-quadrant thinking-preference map | Eight work-based team roles (TMP) |
| A cognitive-diversity conversation | The Types of Work a team needs to cover |
| An individual thinking profile | A team-level view of role balance and gaps |
| A thinking lens | Values (WoWV), change orientation (QO2), leadership 360 (LLP|360), a team pulse (Team Signals), and continuous team development with AI coaching (TeamOS) |
At-a-glance comparison
| HBDI | TMS Global | |
| Model | 4 thinking-preference quadrants | 8 work-based team roles + Types of Work |
| Focus | Cognitive diversity | Work preferences + team coverage |
| Breadth | Thinking preferences | Roles, values, change and leadership |
| Independent review | See Herrmann published material | TMP reviewed by the BPS (2003) |
| Origin | United States | Australia (Queensland) |
Three ways to put it to work
There are three ways to put TMS Global to work for your team:
| Route | Best when |
| TeamOS | You want continuous, always-on team development with AI coaching in the daily workflow — ideal for ongoing development, onboarding a new team or leader, a moment of change such as a restructure, or rolling out from a single team to organisation-wide. |
| Work with an accredited practitioner | You want a facilitated workshop or practitioner-led debrief — ideal for a team offsite, deep individual leadership development, or where you already work with a TMS practitioner. |
| Become an accredited practitioner | You want to deliver TMS profiles yourself. Accreditation is lifelong with no annual renewal fees, open to managers, coaches, educators and anyone developing teams, and recognised across 190 countries — most practitioners start with the TMP. |
Key Takeaways
- The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) focuses on thinking preferences, while the TMS Global suite emphasizes how people prefer to work looking at behaviours.
- TMS Global offers products like the Team Management Profile and TeamOS, which help teams understand roles, work values, and facilitate continuous development.
- The TMS suite backs its findings with over 40 years of research and has been used by millions of professionals worldwide.
- Unlike the HBDI, which presents a cognitive-diversity model, TMS provides insights into team dynamics and operational gaps.
- To implement TMS Global, teams can use TeamOS, consult accredited practitioners or become accredited themselves.
Not sure which fits? Tell us about your team and we will point you to the right starting point. Contact us →