Inside Out 2: Which emotion are you at work?

Joy has led the four original emotions since their first appearance in Andersen’s mind. She is often seen taking charge of the control panel. When there is a problem, the other characters would typically turn to her for help. Even the workers outside of the headquarters know her. 

She is dedicated to keeping Andersen happy, just like a committed founder upholding their company’s mission. But she oversteps her bounds by regulating the other emotions, which snowballs into massive crises. For example, she prevents Sadness from taking control and accessing memory orbs as Andersen adapts to her new life in San Francisco and pushes unpleasant memories to the back of her mind.

Joy later redeems herself as a great leader by accepting Sadness and allowing Andersen to naturally form her Sense of Self. 

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Without encouragement from Joy, Sadness has a hard time believing in her importance to Andersen. Along with a strong sense of self-doubt, she often focuses on the negative aspects of life and breaks into tears when she gets trapped in her thoughts. But she is the most knowledgeable emotion; she has studied most Mind Manuals and understands how the mind operates.

With the right push, Sadness can accomplish big things. She plays a crucial role in helping Andersen reconnect with her emotions by making her sad. At one point, she also stops her human from looking at the hockey coach’s private notebook, which contains details of each student’s past performance.

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As his name suggests, Anger has a temper. But he only gets upset when he feels other people aren’t treating Andersen right, like when a boy didn’t seem sincere about his apology after bumping into her. In real life, Anger would be the outspoken colleague who believes in fair treatment for all.

A team player, Anger shows his soft side in Inside Out 2 by comforting Joy when she feels frustrated after their path back to headquarters is destroyed. The other emotions would also typically use his head as a desk or armrest, and he never gets annoyed at them. 

Anger’s direct approach may have influenced Andersen to take drastic action: he suggests she travel back to Minnesota without informing her parents. This trait can also be a double-edged sword. He takes explosives from Pouchy, a magic fanny pack belonging to a character from Andersen’s favourite children show, to blow up a mountain of memory orbs. This allows the emotions to reunite at the headquarters by riding on the avalanche at the end.

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Disgust is never shy to speak up when she sees something she dislikes, especially if it’s broccoli. She also knows how to behave to please people around Andersen and makes sure she is liked, such as keeping up with fashion trends and social hierarchies. This is the type of confidence one typically gains from having worked several years with the same company, particularly when compared to other employees.

In the sequel, Disgust demonstrates solid analytical skills in reading micro-facial expressions and her interpretation turns out to be correct—Andersen’s best friends hid the secret that they would not be going to the same high school as her.

Parallels can be drawn between this scene and how some employees interact with their leaders at work. There may be thoughts of “Will she approve my ideas?” or “Did he notice that I misspoke?” When these questions can’t be answered by the employee alone, they would often consult more senior members of their team for a second opinion.

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If you are afraid of making decisions because of the potential consequences, big or small, you may be Fear, whose primary function is to “keep Riley safe”. To feel secure, you likely complete all assigned tasks by strictly following the suggested procedures and would stay with a company for a long time. But you may miss out on groundbreaking ideas that challenge the status quo.

Fear’s conservative approach doesn’t mean he is unperceptive. He tries to discourage the other emotions from letting Andersen travel back to Minnesota alone and calms them down when they are about to argue. A well-prepared emotion, he is equipped with a parachute to rescue the other characters as they escape from a literal brainstorm initiated by Anxiety.

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When you joined your first company as a junior staff member, all your colleagues probably seemed more capable than you and you might have wondered when you will be like them. Envy, the most juvenile-looking character in Inside Out 2, feels this way when she meets the other emotions and Val Ortiz, the captain of Fire Hawks, a hockey team that Andersen hopes to join in high school.

Like most fresh graduates, Envy brings fresh ideas and perspectives—but is hungry for more. Without much experience, she tends to endorse most things that Anxiety decides on when they temporarily take control of the emotion panel after kicking Joy out. Envy also adds new ideas to fuel Anxiety’s plans as her second-in-command.

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Anxiety has shown potential as a manager by leading the new emotions soon after they arrived in Andersen’s mind. She has an analytical mind that never stops running, making one prediction and plan after another.

In the first half of Inside Out 2, she succeeds in befriending Ortiz despite risking Andersen’s friendship with her best friends. By overworking all the mind workers at Imagination Land to think of every potential scenario that could go wrong, Anxiety puts enormous pressure on her human, leading to anxiety attacks and a sleepless night.

Although Anxiety appears as a villain in the film, her actions are motivated by the innocent intention to keep Andersen happy. With guidance from a more experienced figure like Joy, this leader-in-the-making takes a step back and focuses on tasks that can be handled in the present.

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Some of your colleagues may initially seem quiet; they haven’t yet introduced themselves to you properly, speak softly and shy away from attention. But as time passes, they start opening up and showing you support during critical moments. They resemble Embarrassment.

Although Embarrassment prefers not to express his views and simply follows the instructions of Anxiety, things start to change after he bonds with Sadness. When she manages to sneak to the back of the headquarters, he helps her to stay hidden by piling books in a corner. He also helps to bring back the other emotions and Andersen’s Sense of Self.

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Ennui refers to boredom caused by having nothing interesting or exciting to do. Individuals may choose to quiet quit because they are dissatisfied with how their managers treat them or want to avoid stress from working overtime. They may feel this emotion as they have lost passion for their roles.

The key to quiet quitting is to deliver what your manager has assigned you to do and complete it with a certain degree of effort that doesn’t stress you out.

Ennui nails it by remotely controlling Andersen’s emotions with her mobile phone so she can lounge on a sofa all day. Her attitude will not earn her the Star Employee of the Month title, but she achieves the bare minimum.

Now meet our diverse community of leaders, the Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow 2024.

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