Yellow Personality (Creative and Careless)
Erikson describes Yellows as enthusiastic starters who may lose interest in details and completion. His examples focus on missed deadlines, unfinished work, and optimistic estimates of time.
THE IDEA
"I Know It Looks Messy, but There's a Method to the Madness!"
A Yellow would hardly admit that he's careless. But he has no natural way to keep track of things. He finds working in a structured way boring. Then you have to fit the mold and follow the template. If there is anything that Yellows avoid, it's feeling controlled by fixed systems.
The solution is to keep everything in your head, which doesn't work. It's not possible to remember everything. So inevitably the Yellow forgets and those around him think he's careless. Missed appointments, forgotten deadlines, and half-finished projects all because once his mind has finished the task he doesn't go backwards. He goes forward. Leaps to the next project. Deals with other things.
Details. To complete a project, you usually need to be precise about details. Yellows don't like keeping track of details. I would even venture to say that they're not interested in details. They paint with broad strokes.
Generally, Yellows are very good at launching things. They're resourceful, and with boundless creativity at their disposal, they can kick off various kinds of projects. But they're not as good at finishing things. Finishing anything 100 percent requires an ability to concentrate that a Yellow rarely possesses. He gets tired and moves on. And so we think that he's careless. He thinks that his work is good enough. My goodness, why worry about trifles? This turned out quite well, after all! The fact that threads are hanging from the shirt or that the document is full of spelling errors is not as important as thinking up new things.
This is repeated in many different spheres. I have a few acquaintances who are hopeless at keeping time. They are always pleased and excited to think things up, but they are optimists when it comes to time. It makes absolutely no difference what time you suggest; they will not be on time. Seven o'clock, half past seven, or eight. It's unimportant. They're late regardless. And when they talk about it, they haggle down their late arrival from forty-five minutes to a little over fifteen minutes. After a while, they actually believe it themselves. But it doesn't matter—the rest of us wait patiently because their presence will be the highlight of the evening.
When to use it
Brainstorming sessions where novel ideas are needed.
Starting a new project or venture that requires creative momentum.
Creative problem-solving tasks that benefit from broad strokes.
Team collaboration: assign idea generation and detailed follow-through according to people’s observed strengths, and agree who will complete each task.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Missed Appointments and Forgotten Deadlines
A Yellow person enthusiastically agrees to meet a deadline but forgets about it once their mind moves to the next exciting idea, leading to half-finished projects and disappointment from colleagues.
Chronic Lateness with Optimistic Haggling
Erikson describes acquaintances who arrive late and later shorten their account of the delay from 45 minutes to 15 minutes. He uses the anecdote to illustrate optimistic time estimates and downplaying lateness.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
How can a Yellow improve their follow-through on details without stifling their creativity?
In what situations might a Yellow's approach be an asset despite the messiness?
How can teams better leverage a Yellow's strengths while compensating for their weaknesses?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Surrounded By Idiots (Thomas Erikson)