Employees work and learn differently – but where do these differences lie and how can companies utilize them for sustainable success in training? The answers to this are provided by "Insights Discovery" coach Michael Portz in an interview – with exciting practical tips for all HR professionals!

About the person: As a coach, Michael Portz works with individuals and teams who want to achieve even more. INSIGHTS is a tool he enjoys using to help teams leverage the differences and strengths of each individual to benefit their community.

Excursus to begin with: What is Insights Discovery?

We all know: Every person is unique! This is evident in behavior as a whole: in the way of communication, one's working style, and also in collaboration with others. Insights Discovery is a model that analyzes these behavioral preferences and makes them visible through four fundamental color energies.

The special thing about Insights Discovery is not only that the color types are easy to understand and remember. The analysis also takes into account the individual mixtures of the different colors. This reveals unused potentials that can make teams and companies more efficient.

The 4 primary colors in Insights Discovery:

Ice Blue: The Analyst. Precise, composed, and questioning
Earth Green: The Empathic. Compassionate, attentive, and steady
Sunshine Yellow: The Entertainer. Sociable, vibrant, and entertaining
Fire Red: The Doer. Decisive, goal-oriented, and demanding

They have been working as a coach with the color system of Insights Discovery for many years. Why is it important for companies to know the different color types of their employees?

The function of management can be broken down to two key points according to Peter Drucker: Retain employees and achieve results. And Insights Discovery contributes significantly to both:

The more employees a company has, the more relationships develop among them. Thus, a lot of conflict potential arises. Through personality analysis, employees get to know each other better. Consequently, they can work more efficiently together and feel better about their interactions – which ultimately leads to better results for the companies. Through the analysis, employees also develop more understanding for one another, which results in them staying in the company longer.

The four color types have different preferences in their working style. What differences in learning behavior can be derived from that?

When we look at the archetypes of the four color energies, we get insights into how learning ideally looks for this person:

Let’s first consider the blue color energy, where a lot is thought through, and the result must be 100% perfect. The Analyst is absolutely focused on the matter and less on social aspects. Learning for the Analyst is very book-related and relies on many sources – thus, comprehensive studying. Everything must be logical, models and systems are important. Learning is very causally driven, as it is always proven that what I am currently observing is also true. Learning is very fact-based.

For the blue color type, synthesis is the focus: Seeking out and synthesizing many facts and pieces of information into a learning outcome.

People with a lot of green color energy are referred to as "the Kind Ones". The green energy is values-oriented. Values and relationships take center stage. This learning type prefers methods based on experiences with other people. Learning takes place systematically and step by step through shared experiences. Green types need time to process things. The green learner thinks and reflects a lot and is generally very introspective.

In the green energy, reflection is the main focus: Reflection requires time and calm, and also a lot of feeling.

In the yellow energy, learning is quite "hands-on", meaning it’s about touching and participating, often very collaboratively. Shared learning is at the forefront. These are usually concrete experiments: Practical trials in which everyone is involved and from which new knowledge is generated. Experimenting can also simply be a pleasant experience – whether the learned material can be applied practically is secondary. This is the crucial difference to the red energy.

In the yellow energy, experimenting is the preferred learning method: Trying out, engaging, and learning together from that.

The red color energy goes directly to doing things concretely: "taking a practical approach" is the motto here. This means taking a topic, theoretically understanding it to a certain degree, and then directly seeing how it can be implemented in reality. This is partially experimenting, but more about finding the way in which the ideas and concepts can exist in the real world. In the red energy, I want to see results in a real context.

Red color types learn pragmatically and goal-oriented: The focus is on application and a concrete result in reality.

Even with these different learning preferences, the mix matters! This means for employees that these different approaches can be situationally mixed individually.

Self-presentation: The four color preferences in the Insights Discovery model and their respective preferred learning methods.

What prerequisites must companies create to address these four different learning types in training?

There are two possible pathways:

The first pathway is a mixed group in a seminar room or also in a virtual space. In a mixed group, it is the trainer's responsibility to ensure that all color energies and preferences are equally supported. This means that for employees with a green color preference, time must be scheduled for reflection, even if other participants may need more patience for that. It is equally important to go into the details and synthesis, which is essential for blue color energy in the room. In between, open-ended experiments should be possible, simple trials – this will appeal to yellow energy. Finally, the red energy must also be supported through pragmatic, reality-based application in learning.

This order - from blue to green to yellow and red - has proven effective. This is challenging for employees with a lot of red energy, as these have the least patience, but it allows green and blue types the necessary time in the learning process.

The second pathway is to offer different learning models for different learning types. This is, of course, very time-consuming. For example, a science lab for the blue energy, with plenty of facts and data for synthesis. We can also form another group that engages in many reflection exercises. Another group conducts open-ended experiments. And one group can pragmatically apply a concept.

With the second pathway, there is always the risk of a monoculture, because I suggest to employees that they can only learn with one method. I always recommend an integrative approach based on many years of experience!

Thank you for the exciting insights, Mr. Portz!

What is your opinion on the four learning types according to the Insights Discovery model?

Have you perhaps already had experiences with this or other analysis tools in your company? And do the current training concepts cover all preferences? Please feel free to share it in the comments – we are curious!