In his book, The Human Side of Enterprise, in the early 1960's Douglas McGregor presented these two highly influential ways of viewing people's motivation in the workplace. His Theory X assumes that people are lazy, dislike and shun work, lack ambition, dislike responsibility and prefer to be led. By contrast, Theory Y assumes that people have a psychological need to work and want achievement and responsibility.

According to McGregor's theory, the role of a manager is not so much to ask, "Which theory of human nature is right?" The question is, "What is the reality of our job situation and how can I motivate my group to keep them involved and contributing?". In other words, whether a manager adheres to Theory X or Theory Y will be reflected in how he or she relates to and communicate with his or her people in different circumstances.

This assessment provides a simple questionnaire to help to determine the mix of a manager's Theory X and Theory Y behavior to provide a basis for how any future adjustments may be made.