What 'colour' are you?

Ever attended a work "Team Building" session?  If you have, you'll know what I mean when I say...

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

or maybe,
Urge to kill......... Rising.......

or maybe, just:  LOL, WTF?

Most of these things are just fucking ridiculous.  There was one, for instance, where we had to pass around a "Bop It" gadget (for those who don't know, it's this thing that plays a techo-type beat and tells you to either 'bop it' 'twist it' or 'pull it' and you have to twist its various levers in time, or you're "out" ).  As I said: WTF?

So you'll understand my first reaction to being invited (read: compelled) to go to a team building session entitled "Understanding Self and Others" was somewhat lacklustre, to say the least.

But it actually turned out to be interesting.  It was something I hadn't done before, at least.

Apparently, each one of us has a unique behavioural style - at work and otherwise - in which we interact with others.  This has evolved usually from childhood, when we begin figuring out what behaviour "works" for us to get what we want.  We approach people with a certain behaviour that's innate to us, but it may not be the same behavioural approach of others, and that's where conflicts and misunderstandings can arise.

The author of this theory categorised the behaviours under four different colours:  Red, Green, Blue and Yellow.  You do a little survey to figure out which one you are.  I guess it's very Jungian in its approach and it's probably nothing new but I found it really interesting.  

Here are the four types:

RED: Spirited and fun, comfortable taking risks, charming, playful, good sense of humour and naturally optimistic.  Motivated by prestige and recognition.  Bored by details and structure. Handles ambiguity well and thrives on social contact. Can be inconsistent, emotional and unrealistic.

BLUE: Very goal-oriented, enjoy getting immediate results and love a challenge.  Enjoy looking at the 'big picture', comfortable being in charge, quick decision makers and thrive on competition, tough workloads and pressure.  Flare up quickly but just as quickly cool down again.  Inefficiency and indecision irritate them.

GREEN: Accuracy and numbers are important.  Perfectionism is inherent.  They have a systematic approach and thrive in orderly, conflict-free situations.  Great at critical thinking and planning.  Can resist change because it may threaten structure and order, can get buried in 'details' and feel overwhelmed when they don't measure up.

YELLOW: Have a warm and caring style.  Family is their number one priority.  Concerned with the needs of others; these are the best team builders, highly empathetic and sensitive.  Generally content with status quo, practical, dependable and patient.  Easygoing, but can hold grudges and procrastinate.

These are very short summaries of what were about a typed page each.  It's very interesting and I think relates not just to work but life in general.

Me... I'm mainly a RED with a few blue and green traits. (I can't believe I have virtually no yellow!!) It's a bit like star signs, isn't it... you're never ALL what they say, but I found a lot of mine remarkably accurate.

It's hard to do without the survey - which I'm attempting without luck to find online - but which category do you think you'd fit into?  What's your worst ever "team building" session story?