Dear Jeremy, I’m a Blue and I struggle in communicating effectively with my Red boss via email. I know that he only wants a high level overview of things without much detail. The problem is that I feel if I don’t communicate the details and he ends up needing more information, he’ll be upset with me for not giving him what he needed. Do you have any suggestions for me? Yours truly, Doug ========== Dear Doug, Thanks so much for your question. Red-Blue communication definitely has some interesting dynamics associated with it, and you hit the nail on the head when describing the problem. The Red wants bullet points, and the Blue does

I’ve raised them the same, but they are soooo different. I can’t believe they came from the same family! We hear that all the time. The truth is, your children are very different−innately. And as someone with her own unique driving core motive (DCM), you respond differently to each of those little personalities. A Red parent may have difficulty with a Blue child’s intense emotion. A Yellow parent can’t understand why her White child isn’t outgoing. The chart below shows us how some colors are complementary to one another while others are non-complementary. So, as a parent, you may love your children with all your he

On September 11, 2001 the world watched as the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed. On the same day, my own little piece of the world was collapsing. My mother was diagnosed with stage-four cancer and she was in the process of dying. Her life ended on September 20, and it felt as though mine would too. I was devastated, and privately mourned her well. I didn’t show anyone else the depth of my grief, but instead remained stoic. My lack of visible emotion was misinterpreted as at best, denial, and at worst, downright indifference. At some point in our lives, we all have to face the death of a loved-one, close friend, or even a

To celebrate July—the month of Independence Day, we thought it would be fun to see what some of the more famous signers of the Declaration of Independence were like. Following are a few brief sentences that tell us some of the more common traits of their personalities. John Adams Adams was known to be impetuous, intense and often vehement. Adams was, at his core, an author, communicator and defender often arguing unpopular opinions merely to see if he could bend his mind to the task in such a way as to unnerve his opponents and ultimately win the day. Thomas Jefferson Known as the “Silent Member” of C

What do these Colors mean anyway? I recently had a person ask me if I could better explain what these four Colors are so that she could better understand how this whole system works and how to apply it to her life. Most people, she said, just hear about "Red," "Blue," "White," and "Yellow" and then a few behavioral qualities that describe what each type is like. She also wanted to know what the Colors themselves mean. I thought this was such a great question! It's at the heart of Dr. Hartman's theory, and I probably too often assume that everybody understands it already. So here's my quick lesson on MOTIVES. Whenever I deliver a Color Co

Last month we discussed how to celebrate Mother’s Day based on each driving core motive. This month, we’ll tackle Father's Day. This will be a bit more complex, because we have to allow for what I call the “man filter”. What is the “man filter?” It is the socialital imposed filter that says, “boys don’t cry”, or “tough it out”, or “real men don’t eat quiche.” You know what I mean. They have learned the need to be strong and unemotional, regardless of their Color Code driving core motive. I know, I know…we all have filters—including women. But, for this article, we will include this particular filter

My dear Blue father strongly dislikes the fact that, here at the Color Code, we refer to the Blue and Red personalities as “heavyweights” and the Yellow and White personalities as “lightweights”. Perhaps there is a negative connotation associated with one or both of those words for him—or he just never liked boxing… Regardless of why, in honor of Father’s Day, this article will attempt to give my father—and anyone else who may benefit by it—another, perhaps more palatable and “Shakespearean” if you will humor me, way of viewing this aspect of our different personalities. To Seek Control or Avoid Control—Tha

Read More