Yellow's Dislike for Details
Erikson’s Yellow profile favors an overview before implementation details. As a communication prompt, start with the goal and ask how much detail the listener needs, rather than assuming a color label determines their abilities.
THE IDEA
“I ASKED SOMEONE TO FIX THAT TINY DETAIL—I CAN’T REMEMBER WHO, THOUGH.”
Erikson uses exaggeration to describe his Yellow profile:
Keeping a Yellow’s interest is, in all honesty, not the easiest thing to do. There are many things that bore the socks off a Yellow employee, customer, friend, or neighbor. A foolproof method to put a Yellow to sleep quickly and efficiently is to bring up lots of details.
Don’t do that. A Yellow simply can’t cope with details. It just gets boring. Not only will he forget what you’re talking about, but he’ll also simply think that he doesn’t need any of those details. His strength lies in the broad brushstrokes. You can easily ask a Yellow to draw up a vision for the next ten years, but don’t ask him to explain how to make it happen.
Conclusion: If you want to keep a Yellow’s attention, strip away as much of the minutia as you possibly can. Always start with the big questions. It’s perfectly fine that you know how to install the latest surround sound system, but don’t tire your Yellow friend with it. It’s not for him. He just wants to know how to get the music started.
It’s just like with Reds, if not worse. Yellows don’t care about how things work, only that they work. So put away the instruction manual—they’ll never open it.
When to use it
Presenting a new project idea to a Yellow manager: start with the vision and big goals, not the implementation plan.
Explaining a technical issue to a Yellow friend: focus on the impact and solution, not the technical details.
Writing an email to a Yellow colleague: keep it brief and high-level.
In a team meeting with Yellows, use bullet points and avoid lengthy explanations.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Asking a Yellow to Fix a Detail
A colleague prefers discussing the direction of a software project to reviewing individual fixes. After presenting the goal, agree who owns the specific bug and when it will be addressed. Preference for an overview does not establish whether someone can handle details.
Explaining How to Install Surround Sound
Start by showing a friend how to play music on the new sound system. Offer installation details when they are needed or requested, instead of assuming the friend will never want them.
Presenting a Vision
A Yellow can easily draw up a ten-year vision but struggles to explain how to achieve it step-by-step.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
When have you given someone more detail than they needed at that point? How could you have changed the order?
How could you ask someone what level of detail they need instead of inferring it from a personality label?
What strategies can you use to keep a Yellow engaged in a meeting?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Surrounded By Idiots (Thomas Erikson)