What's Your Favorite Color?

By: Patricia A. Dextrom
Michigan Health & Hospitals
Annual 1995

You’ve just left your third meeting of the day and it was as frustrating as the first and second ones. Why does Fred feel the need to turn every meeting into a social gathering? And how come Gretta is so blunt? She’s always seems to be stepping on other’s toes. Maybe your frustration stems from the fact that you’re feeling a little blue. No, I don’t mean depressed or melancholy. I’m talking about your personality color.

Personality testing is something that traces its roots back to ancient Greece. Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Plato categorized people into 4 different classifications. Now, there are dozens of tests that determine your personality strengths and weaknesses. What’s the point, you might ask. Why is it important that my personality have a name?

If you are hired at Muskegon General Hospital, you might ask the same question. The hospital applies the Management by Strength program that uses the colors red, green, blue, and yellow to define personality types.

This particular program evaluates two channels of communication - speaking and listening. Muskegon General started using the program in the late 1980s and about 90 percent of the employees currently volunteer to participate.

"Our hospital is small and has a family atmosphere but we still have problems with people working together, explains Walt Dabrowski, senior vice president and CFO of Muskegon General. We have found that if you understand someone, you can trust their work.

Muskegon General gives each employee the opportunity to take the Management By Strengths test when he or she is hired. The individual is given a test with 2 parts. The first part lists several adjectives such as loyal, creative, and decisive with a continuum after each word. The person answers the question, "How do you believe you are?" by looking at each word and placing his or herself on the continuum depending on how loyal, creative or decisive he or she is.

The second part lists a different set of words, again with the continuum, and then asks the question, "How do you feel people expect you to be?"

Every person who takes the test goes through a training session. The training is designed to help people understand the basic traits of the various colors but also to stress that people cannot be completely categorized. The color gives an Indication of a person’s temperament but there are many factors that it doesn’t take into consideration, for example upbringing or honesty. These things cannot be measured but they can affect how one communicates.

After employees are tested and trained, they are given a badge with their name and color on it. The badge also contains a grid and a median line. Everyone has some of every color so each of the colors Is placed above or below the line depending on the degree to which the person possesses traits of that color. According to Dabrowski the employees agree that it helps the communication process between individuals when they know some basic temperament traits about the person to whom they are talking.

The patients have also benefited. Because the employees are working more efficiently together, some of the day-to-day stress of life is removed. The staff is more congenial with the patients. Often, the employee can also see some specific color traits In the patient which enables them to relate better.

By now you’re probably wondering what traits characterize each of the colors as well as which color you are. The table to the right lists each color and some of its definitive characteristics.

Looking back at the characters from the opening situation, blue Betty who left the meeting feeling frustrated was probably not the only one. Chances are that both Fred and Gretta also left unhappy and maybe even a little hurt. Fred is a green person. Relationship is important to him. He starts a meeting with personal conversation. How’s Wilma and the kids? Kelly, are you still talking MBA classes in the evenings Gretta is a red person. She wants to get down to business. Possibly she sees personal chitchat as a waste of time. The problems arise when Gretta tells Fred that he is wasting time and that his personal approach is not accomplishing the task before them.

Gretta may be right that the original task is progressing slower than it could be, but she needs to realize that building relationship is also important. People like to know that someone is interested in them personally. So, the time that Fred is taking may be very beneficial in the long run. However, Fred should realize that there is a task at hand and should be conscientious of the time schedule and the agenda.

By understanding where the other is coming from, they can both work at being more sensitive to the other’s needs. This in turn will help blue Betty feel less tension because the meeting has run more smoothly and things have been accomplished. Dabrowski understands this situation. If you can recognize where people are coming from, it helps you relate better. You can understand them and not take offense. You focus on the person rather than on what they said or how they said it.

The drawbacks of using this system at Muskegon General have been few. Occasionally someone does not fully understand the system and they generalize the color traits. They assume that everyone with a certain color trait responds the same to a given situation. It is important to remember that the Management by Strength system is designed to provide guidelines and generalizations only.

Employee feedback on the program has been very positive. Eventually, people learn to work together, but usually it is through trial and error. Instead of going through the bumps and bruises, the program speeds up the process, commented Dabrowski, who does much of the Management by Strength testing and training at Muskegon General. The bottom line of the Management by Strength system is that all four colors are necessary to make the complete rainbow of personalities that give life and depth to any organization. The key is understanding how to blend the colors to maximize your employees’ effectiveness and strengths.

Patricia A. Dextrom is the editor of Michigan Health & Hospitals and a member of the Communication and Education Division of MHA.