Introducing our new Insights Discovery series

Richard Baines

June 4, 2024

Have you ever wanted to understand why you find it easier to connect with some people more than others?  Or how to work effectively with that challenging colleague? Or perhaps you’d like to build stronger client relationships that lead to more business?  If so, then our new Insights Discovery Series could be just what you’re looking for! 

What is the Insights Discovery Series?

A bi-weekly series of five-minute reads using the Insights Discovery four-colour model to help you increase self-awareness; deepen your understanding of others and learn how to adapt your interactions to get the results you’re after. 

Why are we doing it?  

Having delivered hundreds of Insights Discovery workshops over the last 15 years, we’ve seen the incredible impact this development tool has on personal effectiveness and success in the workplace. 

For those familiar with Insights Discovery, the series continues your learning journey through practical tips, guides and case scenarios. 

For those new to Insights Discovery, it’s a perfect introduction to the model and how it can help you achieve greater success through your interactions. 

For everyone, it’s a chance to learn; be part of our Insights Discovery community; share ideas and experiences and steer the future direction of the series through topic requests. 

In this first post, we’ll introduce the Insights Discovery model, how to use it and some immediate tips for application. 

Surrounded by Idiots!

If you’ve spent any time browsing in WH Smith over the past few years, you’ll have seen the book of the same name. Written by Thomas Erikson, it uses the Insights Discovery colour model to understand the four types of human behaviour and how best to interact with them.  The book permanently resides in the best seller list and for good reason!  It’s because, while we all share many similarities, when it comes to our interactions and behavioural preferences, we are very different. 

Some situations and interactions we find easy.  Others can be challenging,  infuriating and even terrifying!  But why?  And what if we could crack the code to better understand and manage our own behavioural preferences; to recognise those of others and to adapt our interactions at will, to achieve the best outcomes?  Well, that’s where Insights Discovery comes in. 

What is Insights Discovery?

Insights Discovery is a powerful development tool based on the psychology of Carl Jung. It uses colour as a common language to build self-awareness; gain an understanding of others and adapt our interactions for success in the workplace.

We all have a unique blend of these four colour energies (Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green and Cool Blue).  It’s likely we will have one or two energies in dominance and these will have the greatest bearing on our behavioural preferences. The remaining colour energies will be less prevalent and therefore less influential. Recognising your possible weaknesses

Our unique colour blend informs who we are, how we behave, our likely strengths and weaknesses and so on.  See this as your starting point. Your ‘natural self’ at your most comfortable. While you can flex, this will be you around 95% of the time. 

OK that’s me, what about everyone else?

While we mustn’t make assumptions, we can usually recognise the dominant colour energies in people we work with. 

For example, someone with a real eye for detail, a calm demeanour and an analytical approach to things might well have Cool Blue energy in dominance. By contrast, someone who is gregarious, talkative and dynamic by nature, might well lead with Sunshine Yellow energy. 

It’s a good idea not to think ourselves or others as a single colour energy, but rather a blend of colours with a focus on the top two most visible energies.

So how can we better connect?

Naturally, we all tend to interact with others in the style we like to be interacted with. This can work well sometimes but certainly not all the time.  In fact, more often than not, subtle changes in our style can yield far better outcomes. 

Let me give you an example.  Two people with a lot of Earth Green energy will favour a similar interaction style.  This will likely be centred around listening, mutual respect, empathy, steady pace and a supportive nature.  To put it another way, they are ‘speaking the same language’. 

However, speaking this language when interacting with the opposite colour type, the Fiery Red in this case, is less effective.  They will favour a more assertive, opinionated, fast-paced and independent style of interaction.

The key to successful interactions is the ability to move beyond our own preferred style (or language) when connecting with different colour energies.  Adopting some of the preferred traits of the person you are communicating with does three things.  1. It puts them at ease.  2. It makes it easier for you to engage and influence them. 3. It increases your chances of a successful outcome.  To conclude the analogy, by speaking their language, you can better connect, build stronger relationships and gain greater success.  A genuine win/win! 

Tips for adapting to each colour energy.

The graphic below shows six top tips for connecting with each colour energy:

We don’t have to adopt all of these tips all of the time. It’s about selecting the right ones at the right time to get the outcomes you are after. 

Give it try by using this exercise:

1. Select an individual you find quite challenging to interact with. 
2. Identify their likely dominant energy(ies). 
3. Select one or two of the corresponding tips provided in the graphic and apply them in your next series of interactions with that person. 
4. After each interaction, reflect on what you did differently and what the results were. 

While adapting isn’t easy, particularly to your least dominant colour energy, with practise you can become quite fluent, quite quickly. And I guarantee you’ll see the benefits by way of successful outcomes. 

Later in the series we’ll be looking at more specific applications such as selling to the different colour energies and their preferred management styles. 

For now, I hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction to Insights Discovery and if you’d like to know more, click on the link below to visit our dedicated Insights Discovery web page.