Ana, Triss, and I walked in to the room, where we (along with the rest of the group) divided ourselves up according to colors. We read descriptions posted on the wall and self-defined ourselves into a color group. I was blue -- analytical; Ana and Triss were red -- social. The other two colors are yellow (conceptual) and green (structural).
Once everyone had settled into a color, the professor leading the workshop explain the theory. It is called Emergenetics (with some sort of a "we own this name/theory" sign behind it). People are measured on two sets of descriptors: the way their brains work and their behaviors. There was a circle picture to illustrate it, but I have no such cute little visual.
The four colors make up the first set of descriptors:
Blue: analytical Yellow: Conceptual
Green: structural Red: Social
Yellows are big-picture visionaries, with future-oriented thinking. They are experimenters and explorers, with new ideas, never bound by the "way things are done." They generate ideas and thrive on creativity.
Reds are relational. They focus on other people, recognizing them, affirming them, being in tune with their values and gifts. They love team work and learn by interacting with other people.
Greens are the organizers of the world. They think in bullet points; they are thorough, detailed, dependable, timely. They like guidelines, due dates, time lines; they are practical people who are drawn to the tried and true rather than new and innovative.
Blues logical, objective, rational. They assimilate new information with ease and solve problems quickly, focused on the end result. They are researchers, data-oriented, always asking, "Why?"
The rows represent abstract versus concrete thinking and the columns "symmetrical vs. asymmetrical," terms that replaced "logic" because of a value judgement. But the symmetry refers to the function of logic and order. (Blogger does not like my formatting; sorry that the table doesn't line up right.)
Symmetrical Asymmetrical
Abstract Blue: analytical Yellow: Conceptual
(abstract, symmetrical) (abstract, asymmetrical)
Concrete Green: structural Red: Social
(concrete, symmetrical) (concrete, asymmetrical)
Nice and simple, right? Then, in an arrowed circle around this diagram came the three measures of behavior: expressivity; assertiveness; flexibility. Expressivity is tendency to share and express emotions. Assertiveness is willingness to speak thoughts. Flexibility is openness to accommodating the thoughts and actions of others.
They are divided into thirds to describe people; you can be a "first third expressive" or "third third flexible." The thirds confused me but a "first third" means weak in that area and a "third third" means high. Example : a loud extrovert tends to be a third third expressive. We didn't get as much about the behaviors as the ways of thinking, so I have no specifics, though I can take guesses about where I fall on these scales.
In our color groups, we worked together to answer the question : How would your group go on a vacation together? When we presented our resulting posters to the group at large, the professor caricatured the color tendencies that appeared in our interactions and answers. I would have like to have learned more about leading as a specific color-brained person and about interacting with people of various color brains and various behaviors. Then the workshop would have been as useful as it was fun. As is, I got food for thought and a library recommendation to read more of the theory.
My friend from high school and I discussed this theory about a year ago. He couldn't remember its name. I'm so glad to hear more about it! Can you send me/ post the "library recommendation"?
ReplyDeleteAlso, my Myers-Briggs Indicator is on my permanent record, which, I assume, employers and future schools will have access to. Though I find the information incredibly interesting, I am weary about having it on my record.