In a survey of top companies, The Insights Group found that increasing profitability was one of the top ten challenges facing businesses. So how does Insights Discovery help here?

Insights Discovery® uses a four colour model, comprised of Cool Blue, Fiery Red, Earth Green and Sunshine Yellow energies, to describe people’s strengths, styles and team contributions. The unique combination of these helps to determine why we each think and behave the way we do.

A person who leads with Sunshine Yellow energy might produce a fountain of ideas on how to make a business more profitable. They may hit upon the ideal solution, but it might take an individual who leads with Fiery Red energy to take the decisive step to identify this idea and drive it into action.

While someone who has a preference for Fiery Red energy would probably prefer to aim high and work hard to reach demanding new targets, they might overlook simple cost-saving measures that could dramatically increase overall profitability.

A person who leads with Cool Blue energy might propose an in-depth analysis of current processes to identify and eliminate inefficiencies. While this could help to reduce time and resource wastage, if this problem is looked at solely from this perspective, you could risk alienating clients and colleagues. Time and resources that might not seem to directly impact on the profitability of the business may be a vital link in customer or staff relations and retention.

An individual who has a preference for Earth Green energy could suggest a collaborative approach, to help ensure that a mutually agreed and lasting solution is found. They may, however, not have many original ideas of how to go about this. This is where a colleague who leads with Sunshine Yellow energy comes in… And so, we go full circle.

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list of ways in which a combination of colour energies can benefit a team, and the interactions between individuals are complex, but it illustrates how a balance of energies can help to produce a solution that no single approach could have achieved.

So, does this mean that in order to be truly effective, every team or organisation should have someone that leads with each colour energy?

No. Every individual is a unique mix of Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green and Cool Blue energies; we all have all four colour energies, but no one is strong in all four. In different situations, it is necessary to dial up one or more of the colour energies that we don’t lead with. For example, in a team that predominantly leads with Cool Blue energy, someone may need to push up their Earth Green energy to ensure that decisions that affect staff and customers are not made in a purely clinical manner.

To be able to do this, you need to self-aware – you must be aware of how you may naturally respond to situations, how this may affect others and how you may need to consciously adjust your behaviour to positively impact environments or teams that you find yourself in.

Performance – Workplace Development is a Licensed Distributor for Insights Discovery®. Need to know more? Check out our Insights Discovery® page for ways in which we could help you.