I'm Orange-Green (Cindy might argue that I'm green-orange). I think I'm largely an achiever mindset, but I also have a bent towards social good. I want my achievements to produce a positive impact for others, not just for me and my family - that's my green, not Burning Man, anti-capitalism tree-hugging. I think that all the effort is wasted if I can't improve my community and the lives of my employees.

So, with that, my least resonant mindset is blue. But not all blue - I certainly  successfully interact with a lot of blue in my every day life, it would be impossible to live in Tulsa, Oklahoma otherwise. It's the blue that, to me, expends a lot of energy on being against things - anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim, etc. For the life of me, I just can't understand people who spend that much energy being against things, or against fellow human beings.

(Also, full disclosure, I grew up in the service area of a car dealership in Broken Arrow, OK. It's about as red as you can get. So, while I don't "resonate" with red, I certainly understand it.)

As luck may have it, I'm on the board of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association. It is filled with many people who have a conservative blue mindset (many of those, I happen to call friends). So, on our board retreat this year, I spent time with these people - people I've fought with in the past on political issues - and tried to see their humanity. And, as you would assume, that's easy. We talked about their kids, their hobbies, their businesses. I have more common ground with them than not. They're good people.

However, they still don't want to pay a living wage. They still don't want to provide their employees insurance. They still want to fight every last tax even if it means living in a state with some of the worst healthcare and public education in the country. These are the things I don't understand. Is it just to increase their bottom line or because they feel like they worked for it and others should have to too? Much work left to do with my blue brethren on the board...

-Elliot