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If you are hiring folks from the outside or choosing team members from inside your organization, are you sometimes tempted to reject people of "certain Colors"? Orange people, for example, do you reject them because you think they are too impulsive? Gold people, do they bore you with their love for process? Green folks, do they seem annoying and intimidating? Blue folks, are you afraid they are not task-oriented enough?
I could write a 400-page book on the many teams I have encountered whose leadership consciously or subconsciously hired only "certain types" over the years -- all to their detriment.
A Vegas resort called me in to work with an all-Orange/Green marketing department that was nearly powerless to seek changes from an all-Gold/Blue logistics department. During the height of the Cold War, the U.S. communicated with the Soviet Union better than these two groups.
The resort's marketing team lacked logistic and diplomatic skills; the logistics people cared little for the pizzazz of sales or the long-term planning required to maintain a big-picture perspective. The temporary solution was to convince each department to pay attention to the hard-core values of the other, then to take action on that basis.
Still, the interaction was far from perfect. Few people in either department enjoyed bridge-building. Marketing was averse to hiring counselor types and process experts. Logistical folks were literally fearful of risk takers and analysts. So what to do?
Don't get me wrong. If you know Colors, you know that specific jobs attract specific Colors. Oranges and Greens gravitate to marketing and sales. Golds go for logistics like ducks to water.
The problem is that "too much of a good thing i.e., too much of a good Color, can limit thinking and action. For example, if only Blue people plan a party, what pizzazz will be missing if Oranges and Golds were not involved? Think about it.
I was once a member of a 20-member department that had only one Green staffer. Of course we all thought we were wonderful as individuals and as a team but, to be honest, the department did little competent research and lacked the skills for complex long-term planning -- areas that Green folks attack with huge energy. When we finally brought two new Green folks onto the staff, our strategic planning and research capabilities blossomed. We were more balanced, creative, and energetic.
Back to the Vegas resort, both departments set out to identify the values and strengths of bridge builders who could improve communications and decision making. They made a plan that, when job openings came available, they would look closely at job candidates who possessed the missing values and strengths.
In the next year, a few Blues and Golds showed up in marketing; a handful of Oranges and Greens took positions in logistics.
The resort called me back a year later introduce all new employees to Colors. Wow, what a difference a year can make. Systems were in place to eliminate conflict. Managers showed me reports of increased customer satisfaction.
Let me conclude that none of this is pie in the sky. If you don't like Blue people, for example, you're not going to like them more because you finally hired them to be bridge builders. What you will realize, however, is that your organization has benefited hugely for your efforts. Expect more action, synergy, creativity and, yes, the elegant balance of stability and sustainability.
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