DELI's - Deeply Embedded Life Interests

The following information was from the Havard Business Review of 1999 regarding DELI's.


The real keys to job satisfaction are neither skills nor values, but "deeply embedded life interests."But the fact is, strong skills don't always reflect or lead to job satisfaction. Many professionals, are so well educated and achievement oriented that they could succeed in virtually any job. The answer is, only if the job matches their deeply embedded life interests. These interests are not hobbies — opera, skiing, and so forth — nor are they topical enthusiasms, such as Chinese history, the stock market, or oceanography. Instead, deeply embedded life interests are long-held, emotionally driven passions, intricately entwined with personality and thus born of an indeterminate mix of nature and nurture. Deeply embedded life interests do not determine what people are good at — they drive what kinds of activities make them happy. At work, that happiness often translates into commitment. It keeps people engaged, and it keeps them from quitting. Think of a deeply embedded life interest as a geothermal pool of superheated water. It will rise to the surface in one place as a hot spring and in another as a geyser. But beneath the surface — at the core of the individual — the pool is constantly bubbling. Deeply embedded life interests always seem to find expression, even if a person has to change jobs — or careers — for that to happen.



many people have only a dim awareness of their own deeply embedded life interests. They may have spent their lives fulfilling other people's expectations of them, or they may have followed the most common career advice: "Do what you're good at."



The eight life interests identified , as a key tool for managers to retain their best employees can be equally valuable for employees themselves. This model distinguishes itself from other career interest models in that it is activity-based, rather than based on general interest patterns. It's founded on the notion that interests, not skills, should be the foundation of peoples' careers.



This model provides a measure of interest patterns as they apply to business work roles and work environments in the following core function areas:

- Application of Technology measures interests that are often associated with engineering, production, operations, and the general use of technology to accomplish business objectives

- Quantitative Analysis measures interests that are realized through problem-solving that relies on mathematical analysis

- Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking measures interests involving broadly conceptual approaches to business problems

- Creative Production measures interests that are realized through highly creative activities such as the development of new products or marketing concepts, the gernation of new business ideas, etc.

- Counseling and Mentoring measures interests that involve developing relationships as a crucial part of business work, such as coaching, training and mentoring

- Managing People and Relationships measures interests that involve developing relationships as a crucial part of business work, such as coaching, training and mentoring

- Enterprise Control measures interests that are realized through having ultimate decision-making authority for complete operations

- Influence Through Language and Ideas measures interest in exercising influence through the skillful use of written and spoken language