Imagine showing up to work one day and realizing an entire personality has packed up and disappeared and taken something incredibly valuable with them. No out-of-office message, no long, drawn-out goodbyes with mediocre cake; just gone. Maybe it’s a person, or several people, or even part of yourself. At first things still keep moving on. Meetings still happen, and project work continues, but gaps start to become more and more noticeable as time ticks on. The vibe at work is different; the normal rhythm feels off; it’s just different. The things you didn’t realize someone was holding together start to fall apart just enough to make you wonder, “Wait… who used to do that?”
If someone took off with something valuable from work, you’d probably want to track them down and get it back. But what if that valuable thing is personality?
Wanted: Authentic Blue
Last Seen: Deep in conversation, connecting dots between people, purpose, and the bigger picture, while somehow remembering exactly what mattered to everyone involved.
Reward: Meaning, empathy, and a sense that what you’re doing actually matters to someone beyond the task list.
Details:
Authentic Blues keep the human side of things from getting lost. They notice how decisions affect people, they bring purpose into everyday work, and they have a way of making others feel seen without making a big production out of it. They’re usually the ones asking “why does this matter” while others are focused on what’s next.
Without them, things still get done, but it can feel a bit mechanical. Communication gets shorter, misunderstandings linger, and people disconnect without anyone noticing why. The work may still be technically solid, but it loses some of the energy and meaning that makes people want to stay engaged.
Caution: Can detect emotional subtext in a group chat that was literally just emojis.
Wanted: Inquiring Green
Last Seen: Asking a “quick question” that turned into a 20-minute deep-dive, pulling in three new variables and a completely different way of thinking about a problem.
Reward: Clarity, precision, and the ability to separate what sounds right from what actually is right.
Details: Inquiring Greens bring the kind of thinking that turns assumptions into actual evidence. They’re quick to find the inconsistencies, spot patterns, and ask the questions that don’t always make them popular in the moment, but save the day later on. When they’re around, ideas get sharper, plans get stronger, and assumptions get tested before they become expensive, or hilarious mistakes.
When they’re missing, things still move forward… just with a little too much confidence and not quite enough accuracy. Decisions get made faster, sure, but also with more guesswork. Problems don’t disappear, they just wait until later, when they’re harder to fix and a lot less convenient.
Caution: May argue for sport… even if they 100% agree with you.
Wanted: Organized Gold
Last Seen: Turning a vague plan into a clear timeline, assigning responsibilities, and somehow making it all feel manageable instead of overwhelming.
Reward: Stability, follow-through, and a reassuring sense that someone is making sure that things will get done.
Details: Organized Golds turn intentions into reality. They bring structure, reliability, and a level of thoroughness that keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes. While others are generating ideas or building momentum, Organized Golds are making sure nothing important gets missed along the way.
When they’re not there, things feel looser… at first in a freeing kind of way, and then less so. Deadlines slip, details get overlooked, and systems that seemed “good enough” start to show cracks. Everyone is still busy, but progress becomes uneven, and small issues start stacking into bigger ones that someone eventually has to untangle.
Caution: May experience mild distress when exposed to phrases like “we’ll just figure it out as we go.”
Wanted: Resourceful Orange
Last Seen: Jumping into something new with both feet, figuring it out as they go, and somehow turning a half-formed idea into something surprisingly workable.
Reward: Energy, adaptability, and the ability to keep things moving when plans change, or fall apart entirely.
Details: Resourceful Oranges bring momentum and flexibility that no plan can fully replace. They’re quick to act, comfortable with uncertainty, and are the first to try something different just to see what happens. When things get stuck, they’re already halfway through figuring out a workaround.
Without them, everything can become a bit… careful. Plans are solid, discussions are thoughtful, but progress slows when something unexpected shows up. There’s less experimentation, fewer spontaneous solutions, and a tendency to wait for the right answer instead of testing possible ones. Things don’t necessarily fail; they just take longer to get interesting again.
Caution: May interpret “let’s explore this idea” as a legally binding commitment to start immediately.
If there’s a point at all to this obscure and random thought that popped into my head and turned into a blog post, it’s not going out and tracking someone down and dragging them back like some kind of personality recovery mission; it’s to take a minute and notice what was taken in the first place. When any one of these personalities vanishes, it doesn’t just leave a gap in the schedule or the workflow, they take a specific kind of energy with them. The human meaning, the sharp thinking, the structure, the momentum… it all matters more than you thought when it was there. As a famous musician once said… because you don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone.
Brad Whitehorn – BA, CCDP is a lifelong Introvert, and the Associate Director at CLSR Inc. He was thrown into the career development field headfirst after completing a Communications degree in 2005, and hasn’t looked back! Since then, Brad has worked on the development, implementation and certification for various career and personality assessments (including Personality Dimensions®), making sure that Career Development Practitioners and HR Professionals get the right tools to do their best work. Brad is also on the board of directors for the Career Professionals of Canada, and an advisory committee member with the Career Development Professionals of Ontario.
