DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education (AETC)

Maxwell AFB, AL 36118

1 Oct 13

NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER ACADEMY

STUDENT GUIDE
PART I
COVER SHEET
LESSON TITLE: UM01, FOUR LENSES
TIME: 5 hours
METHOD: Experiential/Guided Discussion
REFERENCES:
Bryce, Nathan K., Four Lenses Unfolded. North Orem, UT: Insight Learning Foundation,
2002.
Covey, Stephen R., The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon & Schuster, 1989.
Four Lenses Facilitators Guide, Shipley Communication, 2005.
Four Lenses, 4-Temperament Discovery: The Kit, Shipley Communication, 2009.
Fraser, George C., Ten Truths for Building Extraordinary Relationships, The McGraw-Hill
Companies, 2007.
Headquarters, United States Air Force Academy Pamphlet 36-3527, The Officer
Development System: Developing Leaders of Character, 2008.
Keirsey, David, and Marilyn Bates. Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament
Types, Del Mar, CA: Gnosology Books, Ltd., 1984.
Luft, J. and Ingham, H., The Johari Window, A Graphic Model of Interpersonal
Awareness, Proceedings of the Western Training Laboratory in Group Development,
Los Angeles: UCLA, 1955
Shipley Communication official Website
http://www.shipleycommunication.com/assessments/ (accessed 21 December 2011).
STUDENT PREPARATION:
1. Complete the on-line Four Lenses assessment and bring results to class.
2. Read student guide (2,300 words, approximately 20 minutes)
3. Answer homework question.

PART IA
GENERAL LEARNING OUTCOME: Students who graduate from the NCOA are
better prepared to lead and manage work centers as evidenced by their comprehension of
Four Lenses.
SUPPORTED COMPETENCIES/DIRECTIVES:
The Four Lenses lesson supports AFI 36-2618, The Enlisted Force Structure and the
Institutional Competency Embodies Airman Culture-Develops Self.
TERMINAL COGNITIVE OBJECTIVE: Comprehend the Four Lenses and how its
use impacts NCO effectiveness.
TERMINAL COGNITIVE SAMPLES OF BEHAVIOR:
1. Explain how the use of Four Lenses impacts NCO effectiveness.
2. Give examples of how the use of the Four Lenses impacts NCO effectiveness.
3. Predict how the use of Four Lenses impacts NCO effectiveness.
4. Apply the Four Lenses to simulated situations.
AFFECTIVE OBJECTIVE: Value Four Lenses and its impact on NCO, unit, and
mission effectiveness.
PART IB
ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN: Topical
LESSON OUTLINE:
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION: Attention, Motivation, and Overview
MP 1. FOUR LENSES BASICS
MP 2. POSTER PRESENTATIONS EXERCISE
MP 3. COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE LENSES
MP 4. MATURITY
MP 5. LEADING OTHERS AND TEAMS
CONCLUSION: Summary, Remotivation, and Closure

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PART II
STUDENT READING
FOUR LENSES BASICS (Preferences/Colors/Temperaments)
Under the Four Lenses theory the terms preferences, colors, and temperaments are
interchangeable. Every person you meet or interact with is a unique individual. Each has
their own preferences, expressed in different styles, mannerisms, and ways of approaching
lifes challenges. What they like, where and how they were raised, and their distinctive life
experiences make them different from any other person who has ever lived on this earth.
This diversity is what makes life so interesting, and is also the cause of much heartache
and misunderstanding.
It is no secret that the degree of happiness and/or success we achieve in our lives depends
heavily upon our ability to positively interact with others. In fact, almost everything we
want in life must come to us through the hands of another. Our parents, teachers, family
members, neighbors, clients, co-workers, and the rest of the human race are linked in this
amazing way. Therefore, unless we plan on living in total isolation from the rest of the
world, the more we know about ourselves and others, the more skilled we will become in
accomplishing what matters most in life.
There are as many different ideas and theories about human interaction as there are people.
The Four Lenses is but one approach. This lesson on the Four Lenses is specifically
designed to help you learn to look with understanding into the heart of anotherto open
lines of communication, to reduce personal misunderstandings, and to foster mutual
understanding and acceptance of the ideas of others.
The founding father of this modern research was the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. He
believed that observation of the habitual exercise of individual choice, consistent with
certain shared preferences, could be used to help identify fundamental differences in
people. According to Jung, each person is born with a specific predisposition toward a
particular preference. In the early 1940s, Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs combined
the works of Jung with their own findings and created an instrument called the MyersBriggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Today, it is one of the most widely used personality
surveys in the world. David Keirsey also used some of Jungs research to develop the
Keirsey Temperament Theory. Both of these instruments are foundational to the Four
Lenses on-line assessment that gives you an awareness of your specific predisposition
toward one of four particular preferencesthe Four Lenses.
The Four Lenses on-line assessment helps you identify your primary and secondary
preferences in the form of colors which are also your temperaments. The highest
score identifies your primary color and the next highest score identifies your secondary
color. These four colors can help you determine your preferences and the preferences of
others. They are broken into: green, blue, gold, and orange. Green represents those that
prefer competence and logic. Blue is opposite green and represents those that prefer
relationships over other preferences. Gold represents those that prefer organization.
Orange is opposite the gold and represents those that prefer excitement over other
preferences.

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COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE LENSES

Blind Spots
One of the most commonly used models used to illustrate your self-awareness and what
others are aware of is Joharis Window (see Figure 1). This framework, developed by
Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955, is essentially a matrix with four quadrants used to
determine how you typically operate as levels of self-awareness and others awareness of
you change.

Figure 1 Joharis Window1

In this model the Blind Spot refers to an aspect of our personality that is not known to self,
but is apparent to others. For example, others may notice that you lack eye contact when
talking to people. You, however, may be completely unaware of this. It is only through
the process of receiving feedback that the Blind Spot can be addressed. You become
aware of the eye contact issue and change this behavior. In effect, the Blind Spot is
reduced through identification and learningmoving you to the left of Joharis Window
into the area of known to others and known to self.
During the Four Lenses on-line assessment, you were asked a series of questions that
indicate your preferences. If you scored 20 or less in one of the colors, you will have a
Blind Spot for that color (preference). Lets consider an example of a person whose results
indicate he has a strong Gold temperament but scores a 10 in the Blue. This identifies
some interesting characteristics about this person. As we know, he is likely to prefer
structured, disciplined environments, schedules, and timelines real task-oriented.
However, he may have difficulty expressing emotions or being affectionate to others and
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sensitive to their feelings.

The results could be devastating to his family, friends, and coworkers! They may perceive
him as insensitive or cold which negatively affects maintaining a healthy relationship
with this person.
The first step to reducing these Blind Spots is being aware of them. Once you realize they
exist, you can then explore ways to reduce your Blind Spots.
MATURITY
Maturity is the ability to express ones own strengths, feelings, and beliefs in a manner that
is considerate to the abilities, thoughts, and feelings of others. With the Four Lenses, it is
the ability to take off your primary lens (or color) and put on someone elses. Ones
maturity can be viewed as a continuum of low maturity to high maturity.
A person with a high level of maturity can be referred to as humble, modest, and discreet.
It can be very difficult to determine the primary temperament of a mature person because
they are operating from the nexus, which is the place all four colors connect. A person
with a high level of maturity can be compared to a chameleon, which is able to adapt its
colors to its environment. A person with a high level of maturity will not force their
temperament on others.
Maturity is a product of, and the proverbial face of, our character. Maturity develops as
character develops. A low level of maturity doesnt necessarily mean a person is
immature; it simply means the person requires development. To develop maturity, one
must first, expand ones knowledge of the four temperaments, recognizing each one as
different; second, seek enrichment opportunities to experience all temperaments first-hand
to complement the learning (and maturing) process; and, third, be willing to make personal
behavioral changes (sometimes sacrifices) to better empathize, relate, and communicate
with people of different temperament preferences. As maturity develops, your ability to
operate in your non-primary color improves. The result is a person who, regardless of
primary temperament, is capable of genuinely connecting with each person they interact
with so naturally that their primary color is difficult to determine. A person with a highlevel of maturity is often viewed by others as an influential member of society.
As people develop their maturity, they might start out with a low-level, firmly believing
that their way (or color) is the best/correct way. They may even force their preferences
on others. They mature as they gain knowledge and experience, such as learning about the
Four Lenses and recognizing each of the four colors are different temperaments. As they
mature even more, they realize that change isnt the goal, rather behavior is. For
example, an Orange would never become a Blue, but perhaps could learn to act more like
a Blue when appropriate. As they move along the continuum toward higher maturity, they
would gradually increase their ability to operate in their non-primary color. Eventually,
they would reach a high-level of maturity, with the ability to do the attributes and
mannerisms of the other colors with little effort, selecting the most reliable and appropriate
behaviors. This would be done without advertising it, in other words, with humility.

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Real-life Guidelines and Strategies of Colors2

With all of the information you have learned about yourself and others in this lesson, you
now have enough information to be dangerous to yourself and others. Inappropriate use of
this information (well-meaning or not) can potentially damage relationships and threaten
communication. To help you avoid doing this, the creators of the Four Lenses have
developed a list of real-life guidelines and strategies.
1. Dont stereotype others Everyone is their own unique blend of colors. Something
that is true for one person of a certain color may not be true for another person of
the same color.
2. Dont try to change people When we look at other people, we are using our own
lens to view them, so we tend to compare others to ourselves. You might have a
tendency to believe that because someone is different from you, that person is
flawed and you may want to try to help them become more like you. This is
counterproductive and very difficult (if not impossible).
3. Dont negate the values of others Refrain from judging color characteristics as
right or wrong. As you will come to understand, each temperament has its own set
of values and standards that differ (often greatly) from the others.
4. Dont let strengths become liabilities Sometimes, when people are down and/or
stressed, they can tend to minimize or maximize certain traits to the point that the
traits that were once strengths become liabilities. For example, a Gold being so
obsessed with cleanliness to the point that it drives people away.
5. Dont use colors as an excuse Our colors are our preferences, not our
capabilities. It is counterproductive to blame personality type for behavior (or nonbehavior).
6. Keep your observations private People tend to react negatively to being figured
out or diagnosed easily by others. Even if you recognize someone as a Gold,
refrain from pointing it out; rather, use it to improve your communication style
with that person.
7. Give good gifts Give people what they value, not what you value. This applies to
communication as well. Instead of addressing or relating to someone in a way that
you prefer, you should consider doing it in a way they would prefer.
8. Carry your colored lenses with you Try adopting another perspective if one isnt
working for you. If communicating in one style doesnt work, try a different
colored lens (you have four to choose from).
9. Validate the strengths of each color Each temperament has a unique set of
strengths that the others dont have. Recognizing, accepting, and validating them is
important to the success of any organization. It also encourages growth and
development in others.
10. Learn from others By becoming familiar with the skills and strengths that other
temperaments have, you equip yourself with either the ability to potentially develop

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new skills or possibly compensate for ones you are unable to develop by
surrounding yourself with friends or coworkers who have mastered those skills.
Doing either of these things enables you to successfully adapt to various challenges
life brings.
Conclusion
As an NCO, you are expected to lead teams, solve problems, and effectively execute the
mission. To do this, you must be able to interact and communicate with others. In an ideal
situation, we have a team made up of all four temperaments, which would provide optimal
problem solving potential, but it would also have great potential for conflict. NCOs who
understand this strive to use their knowledge of temperaments (own and others) to help
teams focus on the task at hand by tapping into strengths and mitigating conflict in order to
get all members to work together toward a common goal.
The Four Lenses experience is a way for you to learn about yourself. It is your beginning
to self-awareness. You will find many opportunities to apply Four Lenses concepts
throughout your Academy experience and beyond.

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Homework Question
Given what you have learned about the Four Lenses, describe how
you plan to use the information to enhance your effectiveness. Be
prepared to discuss your responses in class.
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POSTER PRESENTATIONS EXERCISE

NOTE: Filling in this notetaker after the in-class exercise will provide study notes and
references for future use.
NOTETAKER FOR IN-CLASS POSTER EXERCISE
Green

Orange

Gold

Blue

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NOTES

Luft, J.; Ingham, H. Proceedings of the Western Training Laboratory in Group Development.

Bryce, Nathan K. Four Lenses Unfolded.

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