The colour of your agency matters.

There has been much talk of D&I in our industry over the last ten years, a movement which I support without question naturally, but in case you thought this was going to be another uncomfortable read from a white middle aged man who has no business spouting any opinions on the subject, let me put your mind at rest.

Diversity has many nuances, yes from the obvious ones in terms of colour and creed to neurodiversity and gender et al, but there is an underlying diversity issue some agencies need to manage that is less immediately visible.

The Hartman Personality Profile is based on the notion that all people possess one of four driving “core motives”. You’ve probably come across this before, but for those who haven’t…

The Color Code is based on four types of personality, identified by colour: 

Reds are bold, assertive, efficient and determined.

Blues are objective, analytical, structured and accurate.

Greens are caring, sharing, encouraging and patient.

Yellows are sociable, enthusiastic, persuasive and flexible.

It is somewhat over simplistic, but you get the picture. You might get oranges or you might get aquamarines too but it’s rare to get muddy brown (red & green)

Broadly speaking, this insight is used to know what motivates employees and who best to cast with clients.

Does that client like to get straight down to business without any chit chat – or does she write that email without any niceties or even a ‘hi’? – ‘we need to put Red-Rachel on that account’.

But what of agencies as a whole?

Try this experiment next time everyone is in the office.

Ask people to stand in a corner of the room according to their colour group – (as they self identify).

If your agency is overwhelmingly green you may have trouble getting the best work out because everyone is just too nice and thoughtful. Not that greens aren’t necessary or valued but too many people loving the work, even the rubbish stuff, doesn’t help.

Or if you over index on blue, you may find your agency is made up entirely of finance, coders and PMs. Efficient but not too creative.

If you are over indexing on red you may have a real go-getter agency style but with only a focus on results. The old question of is she more ‘deadline than headline’ is a reasonable concern if you are building a creative culture.

Personally I’m a yellow.

So (according to the profile) avoid details with me, let’s do a bit of small talk first, be enthusiastic and positive, lighten up and let me talk. I will be the guy who talks to you in the lift even if we have never met.

You certainly don’t want an agency full of me-types. It would be fun, but nothing would ever get done. Just ask my wife.

We tend to hire people like us, personality-wise anyway. But teams need diversity of personality and motivational cues to be effective.

A famous yellow would be Robin Williams or Bill Clinton, a famous red might someone like Hilary Clinton or Madonna. Abraham Lincoln seems to have been blue and Albert Einstein green. An agency full of any of these people would be hell on earth.

But what happens when a good blend occurs?

We see the benefit most commonly in creative teams. Ever noticed how people are always asking who is the clever one?

One seems to have a lot of ideas, so it’s definitely that one…. but then they don’t like confrontation and can’t decide on anything. The other one seems to have the presenting skills, the charm and wit and the client loves them so it must be that one right?

Maybe it’s that special sauce that mixing a blue and yellow together? Or is it red and yellow or blue and green? if it’s working don’t try and mend it.

So don’t forget the other kind of colour diversity either.

It will make your agency stronger and more creative.

And as we approach another awards season, who doesn’t want that?

Alright reds, pipe down.