Colorful Personalities

Rework is a book by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier, the founders of an internet company called 37signals. In the book, they take some very generally accepted business ideas and totally trash them, or at least make readers look at them from a very different perspective.

Actually, they call it a contrarian manifesto. Some of them are very Colors-appropriate, and the book is certainly worth a read. At around 80 or so short chapters, it is even very Orange-read friendly:

-Their staff is scattered all across the country, and they certainly don’t believe in advertising, budget planning, or meetings.

-Learning from mistakes is highly overrated. They are other people’s mistakes – not yours.

-Most plans are just glorified guesses, unless they are small and immediate focused.

-Growth is not always a good idea.

-Delegation doesn’t work. It clogs the pipes for others by inventing a bunch of busywork, and when they run out of real work, they make up work.

-Meetings are a waste of time as they produce little results, drain resources, and often “include at least one moron who inevitably gets his turn to waste everyone’s time with nonsense.” (At this point, I wasn’t sure if the two writers were Orange or Green…)

-Forget the idea of working long hours. In the eyes of the authors, workaholics are simply those people who just don’t work very efficient enough during the day.

-Never mind specific numbers of hours of work each day. Work until you get the job done.

-Solve the simple problems and leave the nightmare complex problems for the competition to figure out. Here they use the example of the Flip camcorder. It has three buttons – that’s it. Simple often is better. The competitor camcorders have all the gadgets and complexities, yet the Flip camcorder sells incredibly well, and is proud to NOT do everything – but be user friendly.

Why don’t most employees offer feedback or ideas for improvement? There are good reasons, according to a new study from Kansas University. It is often because companies can minimize, ignore, or forget, the social ramifications involved.

Their study found that social concerns often have employees choosing not to ever speak up. Feirong Yuan, one of the authors of the study, adds that this trend is more common in companies where, by perception or reality, the firm does not value change. In those instances, even an employee who has a great idea may be reluctant to speak up, fearing that he or she will be seen as disruptive.

But there are things companies can do to become more like I.T. firms, or any start-up, where everyone’s new ideas are actively sought out, and almost mandatory. Some firms create the atmosphere through innovation, others through incorporating it into their employee evaluations. But the study also found that one of the core ways to have someone volunteer ideas, suggestions, and feedback, is to first have a manager who will actually listen well, and welcome feedback.

Blue can supply powerful insights into the teamwork, or customer service areas, because they certainly do know way more of what’s going on than other Color.

Greens are constantly thinking of new and better ways some things could me managed, implemented, or streamlined. While they are the least likely to be discouraged from providing their feedback, they stop being interested when they reason that nobody is listening or implementing any of them.

Oranges have extensive shortcuts to get things done. They’re using them, so why would others not want to implement these? Oranges are also incredibly creative, if someone just challenged them, and gave them a reason.

Of course, Golds may not like change much, but they are the best source for tweaking efficiencies, finding redundant work that can be eliminated, or other huge cost-cutting measures. They see them, they tell their friends, but won’t share it publicly more times than not.

But then, without knowing Colors, most companies wouldn’t even know how to ask, who to ask, or how to make it a safe environment for each Color to contribute their unique strengths in powerful feedback and suggestions.

Here is another in a series of excerpts from the all-new Colorful Personalities book. This month’s section is from the kids chapter:

Parents, get ready: Green children will become very independent, very quickly. It can seem as though there is now a mini-lawyer in the house since Green children ask a lot of probing questions, and will never settle for easy answers. These kids will also catch inconsistencies in answers, which keep their parents constantly on their toes. Their continuous questions will last a lifetime as will their never-ending quest for knowledge, understanding, and growth.

From the time Green children learn to read, or to log onto a computer, they value learning, puzzles, and figuring things out on their own. They are perfectly content being alone, and choose to have small circles of friends that share their joys of learning and exploring, and who can mentally challenge them.

A Green child is not likely to get involved in many social situations, and is perfectly comfortable alone. In later years, this independence will also apply to team sports and group activities where he or she may participate in some, but it will not become his or her preferred setting. It matters very little what other kids think, since Green children are the least likely to succumb to any peer pressure.

In school, Greens typically do not feel comfortable with many kids, lots of noise, and insufficient time to process or absorb material. They value teaching styles which involve logical and well-planned presentations with opportunities for discussion and debates, and where they can ask lots of questions. Green children enjoy independently researching material and thrive on sharing what they have learned with others. Their favorite subjects are math, history, and science, or any areas involving complex problems or areas which stimulate their minds.

David Menzies, the writer whose “Chris” story I purchased to share last month, had another great idea on the radio last month. Quite by accident, he stumbled onto a great way Oranges can expedite their grocery shopping. And anything that saves time from a task they aren’t very fond of is worth considering.

David recently found himself in a grocery store, needing to do some shopping. But he has no time or use for shopping of any kind. It’s just something that has to be done, and certainly not enjoyed. Quite by accident, he turned around and started wheeling someone else’s cart towards the cashiers. But where most, (OK, everybody), would stop and look for their own cart, David decided the stuff that this person was buying looked a lot better, and more thought out, than what he was thinking of buying. Besides, this persons had a lot of stuff, and seemed to be done! So he simply unloaded this mistaken cart’s stuff at the cashier, paid for it, and took it home.

Sure, there were a few things he wouldn’t ever eat, but it made it a total win-win in that he simply donated those items to the Food Bank. But the real thrill, as David started to think about it, was that this way, he could cut his grocery shopping time to just a few minutes!

The following week David went back to the grocery store and, as a lady turned away to grab something, calmly wheeled her cart down the next aisle, around the corner, to the cashier, in the car, and home – deliberately. It wasn’t theft, as the store did get paid for the items, and David reasoned that most women love to shop. By taking their groceries, he was doubling their time in the store, and thus doubling their shopping pleasure, since this lucky person now had to, make that: got to, start from scratch. He was also paying them a huge complement by valuing and keeping what they had selected!

It was like having his own personal shopper and has become a way to get in and out of the store in less than five minutes, while making someone else very happy. Now that’s an Orange shortcut.

That was the question of an MSNBC story by health writer Melissa Dahl. Many people can take a problem and want to share it with anyone who will listen. Their intent is to get it out, and to feel better about the situation or issue. Yet, how often does it actually exasperate the situation and accomplish the exact opposite?

Could it be that we can get more cranked up about a problem when we share it over and over? Could it be that others, in an effort to be supportive, can add fuel to the fire? A number of people in the story did admit that these discussions can spiral out of control. In fact, could it sometimes add new fears or problems that we hadn’t even thought about yet?

On the upside, it does tend to strengthen relationships and bonds with friends or family when these problems are shared. After all, we trust them enough to share our emotions, so it becomes a win-win: someone cares enough to listen to me, while the other person feels special and trusted.

According to psychologist Matthew Anderson, sometimes it’s important to know who you’re talking to. Maybe there are times it’d be better to turn to a friend who’s more likely to offer solutions or a different perspective instead of a good listener who will support you unconditionally and just let you vent.

Being there for our friends, coworkers, and family is very important. It’s also critical to be a good listener and honor the person, especially our Blue friends, by letting then talk it through. But at some point, it’s probably a good idea to shift from complaining and venting to problem solving.