The Four Birkman Colors
You did a Birkman assessment and now you’re Blue, Red, Green, or Yellow. What does it all mean? Let me give you a quick overview of the four different colors on the Birkman, how to interpret them, and why they’re important in teams.
Birkman BlueBlue on Birkman represents people in the subjective world of what could be. They’re people-focused, abstract, hypothetical, and have a future-oriented worldview. Blues bring a lot to the equation. They bring creativity. They’re strategic. They have a sensory flair. Don’t get them started in a brand conversation. They’ll go all day. You get so much wonderful value from that Blue individual. Blues are always asking the Why questions.
Birkman YellowYellows, like Blues, are focused in their heads. They’re in a world of their own inner thoughts. They’re more introverted, less extroverted. But unlike Blues, who are focused on the abstract and the future, Yellows are focused on the concrete and the tangible and what’s in the world. Yellows are invested in predictability, order, stability, and fairness. They’re amazing on a team because they take the Blues’ vision and turn it into a plan. Yellows are interested in answering all the How questions. Blues are all about why: Why does the world work this way. But Yellows want to know how: How do I use this? How do I make this work?
Birkman GreenGreens are similar to Blues. They’re focused on this future-oriented, people-oriented, hypothetical world. But they’re more extroverted. They’re more likely to interact directly with the world. Also like Blues, they’re fantastic at thinking about *what could be: “*Let’s change,” “let’s evolve.” “Let’s influence and champion.” They’re great storytellers, they’re great coaches. They’re invested in interpersonal relationships. And as you might guess, their question is Who. Who do I need to call? Who would be helpful here? Who is impacted? This wonderful green energy on a team makes you better at stakeholder management and figuring out how a change or a decision is going to impact people. It’s great having that on a team.
Birkman RedFinally, Reds stay in the top of the Birkman grid with a very hands-on, extroverted kind of focus. But now, instead of that future-oriented, people-oriented focus, Reds shift to the here and now, to the task, and what needs to get done. Reds are fantastic for expediting things, and making things happen. They’re practical and logical. There’s no BS with a Red. They just want to say, “What do we gotta do?” And that’s their question: What next?! You get a lot of energy from having Reds on a team.
Great Teams Need All 4 ColorsGreat teams need Blues, the Blue energy, the Blue contribution because it’s strategic. Blues make sure that you’re anticipating what’s coming in the world, that you’re paying attention to the right things.
But you also need the Yellow because a vision is nothing without a plan. You need the Yellows who say, “Can you define what you mean by that? What would we need to do to make that happen? How do we nail it and scale it?” Yellows bring that. But if you have the most amazing Blues and Yellows, a great vision and plan, but haven’t brought anyone along, you’re completely missing the boat.
You need Greens to mobilize people, win their hearts and minds, to get them to come along on the trip. And finally, all that’s great, but you still need somebody focused on getting there, on doing it.
That kind of accountability, expediting, and execution comes from a Red. You need all of these different styles on a great team. And if your team is missing any one of these styles, you’ll probably see risks, and even dysfunction, tied to what’s missing.
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One last thought. You don’t necessarily need all of these different styles at the same time. In the early phases of a project, blue energy, which is about diverging and thinking about what’s possible, changing your mind, and iterating, is great. But once you’ve made a call, those people who keep saying, “But what about,” can make it hard to be decisive and move ahead. You want that blue energy early, but you want it to trail off a bit.
Similarly, if the Reds get going too soon in the process, they shut a lot of things down by saying, “Yep, sounds good, let’s go!” This can increase risk as well. Maybe there’s a rush to judgment or you’re moving too quickly. You want these different styles at the right time. Be deliberate about how and when they contribute and then you’ll have an incredibly effective team.
Want another hot tip on how to make your team more effective? Check out this team effectiveness exercise.
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