It came up in a negotiation course, and in the most memorable way: depending on how you had negotiated, you got a bag of a different colour.
The colours come from Rodeado de idiotas (Swedish Omgiven av idioter, 2014; English Surrounded by Idiots), by the Swedish consultant Thomas Erikson. A self-help bestseller, translated into some 55 languages. The idea, borrowed from the DISC behavioural model: people come in four colours, and once you know someone’s, you’ll understand why they look like an idiot to you (and you to them).
- Red: dominant, decisive, straight to results.
- Yellow: enthusiastic, sociable, creative.
- Green: calm, loyal, wants harmony.
- Blue: analytical, detail-obsessed, wants accuracy.
Now the catch. Psychologists consider the DISC colours pseudoscience, with no solid evidence behind them. And the Swedish skeptics’ association (Vetenskap och Folkbildning) named Erikson its “Deceiver of the Year” for 2018, for selling a good chunk of Sweden pure pseudoscience and gross psychological oversimplification.
Seriously.
So: useful as a conversation starter about how differently people negotiate, useless as a map of anyone’s personality. For negotiation with actual substance, see BATNA vs Chris Voss.