There has been some talk in my office about the True Colours personality test and its value as a team building exercise. Who doesn’t love a good personality test? My curiosity got the better of me one evening, so I got online and took the first free version of the test that I found.
I’m green.
I don’t know what that means, really. I’m not sure I fit into that category, but the questions I answered got me thinking, nonetheless, about my optimum work style. The questions were presented as a series of grouped adjectives against a distractingly vibrant background. You rank the groups of words from most applicable to least. And you’re meant to do it quickly, I think. I felt rushed, anyway. (Mind you, I get the same feeling on WebMD – probably a throwback to grade school multiple choice quizzes.) The whole thing took about 7 minutes and told me I’m green based on the adjectives I preferred.
My diagnosis of green was represented as another series of adjectives, apparently the ones I chose most frequently. (Neither blue nor yellow were on any of the lists which leads me to believe that the designation of ‘green’ is arbitrary. Duh.)
I don’t remember most of the adjectives that populated the definition of green, but two stood out for me: intellectual and organized.
That’s not what my life, work or private, currently feels like, but I love the sound of it.
Whether the test I took provides accurate results or not is anybody’s guess. It’s so subjective that I suspect the results might change every time I take it (if I were inclined to take it repeatedly). However, it’s a great exercise to get the self-reflective juices flowing. So often, when work and life get to be overwhelming, autopilot takes over, and you have to wonder how much of a person’s work style comes as a reaction to stress and how much of it is working to the best of one’s ability.
The reality is that there will always be stress – so, maybe they should come up with a test for stress tolerance and coping mechanisms to help workers improve their work style. Food for thought, anyway.
Simpl●City 