Inc Magazine just ran an article titled “Color Me CEO? Test Shows How Bosses Are Wired.” Here’s the lead.

“A panel of 900 CEOs organized by USA Today participated in an online 60-second color personality test, and the results were striking: The bosses don’t like yellow or red, but they’re big fans of magenta – at least compared to the rest of the population.”

My first reaction was, “So what?” If a selection of CEOs like magenta instead of yellow, what could that possibly mean for me or for you?

But there’s a less than subtle implication that taking this quick color test online will help you make a wise career choice. That’s why it pays to do a little analysis.

My first big problem came with the following claim. The “color choices paint a picture of the typical CEO as sensitive, cooperative, and not a perfectionist.” It’s the phrase “typical CEO” that gets me.

I’ve never met or read about one of those. Is a typical CEO more like Bill Gates or Bill George? Steve Jobs or Steve Ballmer? What about Indra Nooyi, Herb Kelleher, or Richard Branson?

Well, maybe that’s just the article. What about the test itself? I took it online in less than five minutes. That’s a little scary right there.

My first reaction was that the descriptions were a lot like those astrological profiles. All the words are positive and they cover a broad range. In other words, you’ll find it easy to say “yes” to something in any profile.

But some words in mine didn’t fit. One was “impulsive.” I asked my wife. She just shook her head and muttered something about “Mr. Plan the Work and Work the Plan.” I called a daughter and asked her. She just laughed. No one but the color test seems to think “impulsive” is me.

“Suggested careers” for me included librarian, attorney, and web designer. That’s a pretty interesting mix. There was also a note that, “if you love to type, data entry operator might be listed as well, even though you want to be a fiction writer.” I have no idea what to make of that.

I’m for anything that gets you thinking about and talking about what you love to do and are good at. If this test, or others like it, do that for you, rock on. Just don’t lose sight of the silliness and preposterousness of it all, even if the silliness is painted over with some purported science.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 11:39 am and is filed under Tools and Strategies for Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.