How My Favorite Personality Test Changed How I See Myself and Others
Are you a Blue, Red, White, or Yellow?
Over the years, I’ve taken a bunch of personality tests. There are the fun ones you find in magazines or on websites. But I’ve also taken the more extensive assessments like the Myers-Briggs.
Myers-Briggs was interesting. But I ran into a few issues with it that didn’t make it particularly helpful. First, my results would often change depending on when I took the test. One year I’d get one personality type, and then I’d take it again a few years later and be something else. Did my personality change, or is the test just wonky? Also, I always found Myers-Briggs kind of complicated with its four-letter acronyms for its sixteen different personality types. It was hard enough to remember my letter combination, much less remember anything about what someone else’s meant. Finally, Myers-Briggs tests are pretty long. At almost 100 questions, it’s kind of a slog to get through.
I’ve also taken personality tests based on the Big Five theory of personality. These, too, can suffer from some of the same problems as Myers-Briggs. The tests are often long and the results would sometimes change between the times I took them.
I eventually wrote off personality tests as not being very useful.
Then one came along that completely changed my mind about them and became one of the most helpful mental models in my life.
Eight or so years ago, Kate’s and my good friend Carlie Thompson introduced us to a personality test called The Color Code.
(Carlie, I’d like to highlight, was also the very first subscriber to Dying Breed. That’s how good of a friend she is. Thank you, Carlie!)
The Color Code, which was originally published back in 1987 (and is now published as The People Code), was developed by a psychologist named Taylor Hartman. You answer 45 questions and the test sorts you into one of four colors: Red, Blue, White, or Yellow.
Kate and I both took it, and we were impressed with how accurately it pegged us and how insightful its descriptions of the personality types were. I’ve also been impressed with how consistent the results have held after taking the test multiple times over the years.
Since initially taking it, The Color Code has become a fixture of conversation in the McKay household and beyond. We’ve had friends take it. We’ve had our kids take it.
It’s not only given Kate and me an insightful tool for better understanding ourselves, but it’s really revolutionized the way we understand our relationships with others. I can describe someone to Kate as being “Such a White,” and she knows exactly what I mean. It’s been especially useful for figuring out the friction in certain relationships and why I may not click with someone else.
It’s not just that The Color Code framework has altered the way I view interpersonal dynamics by laying its specific rubric over it; even more helpfully, it’s just pointed to how I can better relate to people in general.
Because it’s been such a game-changer in my life, today I want to talk about my favorite personality test: I’ll walk you through how it works, what color I am, what color you might be, and the important insights I’ve gotten from The Color Code.
