Use colors to improve working relationships.

Colors are evocative. One person is described as "true blue"; another is "good as gold." The "Real Colors" Matrixx System[R] is sweeping the country as a training tool to identify personality types and improve relationships: teacher to student, employee to supervisor, colleague to colleague. Pam Hobson, 4-H Youth Development Agent in University of Wisconsin Extension, introduced the system in a workshop at the Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership (WWHEL) conference in October 2003.

It's more light-hearted than Myers-Briggs and easier to remember. Their goals are similar: Help people understand and work with differences in behavior patterns in more constructive ways than, "I'm right, you're a jerk." She said most people who've taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator remember their own "type" but rarely recall anyone else's. Colors grab the visual memory; once you know that Jessica is orange and Eric is green, you'll never forget it.

What's your color?

Everyone is a combination, but for most of us one color dominates. The four-hour workshop, developed by the National Curriculum and Training Institute in Phoenix AZ, uses visuals, descriptions and a color survey to identify each person's balance of four colors.

Blue. Feelings and relationships are central to the Blues. Empathy, acceptance, authenticity, serenity, conflict avoidance, romance and nurture are high on their list of values.

Gold. Dependable and hard working, Golds never miss a deadline or are late for a meeting. With a clear sense of right and wrong, they are detail oriented planners and list-makers who thrive on security and order.

Green. The world of ideas is where Greens feel most at home. They're curious and analytical; they enjoy intellectual challenges and the thrill of discovery. Calm, cool and collected, they work independently and are impatient with routine.