History of PI®

To a great extent, the history of PI Worldwide is the history of the late Arnold S. Daniels, author of the Predictive Index®, and founder of the company. Born and raised in the Boston area, Arnold majored in journalism in college, and began his career working for the Boston newspaper, The Record-American. In 1942, a much different "career opportunity" presented itself; Arnold enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, and was soon flying combat missions for the 8th Air Corps.

Following his combat duty, he began working with a psychologist who had been brought over to England by the Air Corps to study the reasons behind failed bombing missions. He was introduced to the subject of tests and measurements, and learned a great deal about their design and application. The Air Corps later sent Arnold to a course called "Management & Statistics" at the Harvard Graduate Business School, which provided important technical know-how that would lead to his later breakthroughs.

Returning to civilian life, the ex-navigator/bombardier realized that he had become much more interested in psychological tests and measurements than he was in journalism. He consecutively went to work for two consulting firms, both involved in the general areas of organization development and personnel management. He also continued to educate himself in behavioral tests and measurements, and their workplace applications. Out of his experience, he realized that a new, simpler system was necessary if the information developed by behavioral assessment was to have a significant impact on business operations.

It was over the next few years, 1952-1955, that Arnold Daniels developed the prototype of an assessment instrument which he called the Predictive Index®. He also formulated a training process for making the survey's results understandable and useable by business managers. In 1955, he set himself up in business as Arnold S. Daniels Associates, and began to sell his new system, complete with a five-day training course. By the end of 1956, the client list had grown to about thirty, almost all of them in New England. But the word was spreading, the list was growing steadily, and Arnold S. Daniels Associates was able to move out of its attic location in Arnold's home to its first real office.

In the early '60s, the client list had grown to over 120 and with many thousands of PI's available for statistical study, the PI norms were refined. In 1971, Arnold S. Daniels Associates became Praendex Incorporated, now the parent company of PI Worldwide. 2005 marked the 50th anniversary of the Predictive Index®, and far from its humble beginning in 1955.

Today, with PI Worldwide printing almost a million surveys a year in more than 65 languages, with thousands of clients around the world, 48 Licensees and about 350 Associates working with them, the Predictive Index® program has become a much larger and more complex activity than Arnold envisioned in 1955.

Arnold Daniels died in September 1998. He left behind not only a premiere program but also an unsurpassed commitment to excellence.

"To the greatest extent possible, assure that each individual you select to join your organization has the opportunity to make the maximum contribution to the success and profitability of the business by doing the kind of work for which s/he has the greatest opportunity for productivity and achievement of personal success."
- Arnold Daniels, Creator, Predictive Index