Surrounded by Idiots (The Surrounded by Idiots Series)

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson, but it turned out to be one of the most insightful books I’ve read on human behavior. The way Erikson breaks down personalities into four color-coded types helped me see my own interactions in a whole new light.What I loved most was how practical the book is. It made me reflect on my own communication style and why I sometimes clash with certain people. Instead of just feeling frustrated, I now have a better understanding of why people react the way they do—and how I can adapt my approach to connect more effectively.That said, some parts felt a bit simplified, and I don’t think people fit neatly into just one category. But as a tool for better relationships, whether in work, family, or friendships, it’s incredibly valuable. I’ve already started applying what I’ve learned, and I can see a difference!

Entretenido, muchos ejemplos, buena forma de demostrar el comportamiento de cada personalidad/temperamento. Un líder, jefe o gerente debería leer este libro para entender a las personas con quien trabaja.

By the end of the book I felt I was really able to grasp the concept and how the color types could be useful. Unfortunately it took me months to complete, partly due to life happening, but mainly because it wasn’t very engaging to me. Once I realized the color tool was the same tool as the disc it made things a lot easier to comprehend. That part literally was not mentioned till a few chapters from the end. I enjoyed it overall, but definitely see areas of improvement.

Absolutely loved Surrounded by Idiots! It’s a brilliant, eye-opening look at human behavior and communication styles. The book is both insightful and entertaining, and it really helps you understand the different personality types around you. A must-read for anyone looking to improve their interactions and get a better grasp on how people think!

Of course this is all an opinion, I thought the book had great insight and good information about different types of people. The only way I’m going to look at people from now on in color. That being said my particular reading style found it difficult to get through the stories that were told from personal experiences. All that to say, the information was very insightful and I would recommend this book. Especially if you work with different groups of people, it will be a good read.

It was a good read. Until I figured out I was the idiot that surrounds people.

This book describes four behavior types by sorting them into colors: red, blue, green and yellow. People that are sorted into these behavior types typically exhibit the same characteristics. For example, the book claims that green individuals are typically laid back and sometimes struggle to make decisions. Since teachers need to be able to understand and manage behavior, this book can be a foundation for how we interpret different social situations with students. While Erikson does point out that we should not use this classification method on children, it does give us some background knowledge on students and what drives behavior (e.g. environment).There are many aspects of the book that I enjoyed. The book begins with a description of how and why he and his father began classifying behavior in this way. They used what is called the DISC method to establish these four behavior types. He explains that most people are a combination of two or three behavior types; very few people are just one type. Erikson describes the basis of behavior – what causes us to behave in the way that we do. He then moves on to provide an overview of the system, listing characteristics of each color in a diagram provided on page thirteen. After this introduction, he dives into how we can recognize each behavior type, how each behavior type deals with stress, which behavior types are best suited to work together, how to give feedback to each behavior type and so on. In chapter nineteen, Erikson provides examples of how people who have been sorted into the different behavior types react to different questions about their behavior and the book. Each of these people who were interviewed have read the book and are able to explain how they feel about the portrayal of individuals who belong to the group they do – most of them seem almost annoyed. For example, Hakan seems annoyed that the interviewer points out what he says is contradictory. The book ends with an interactive quiz, which is perhaps one of my favorite parts. It allows the reader to self-assess and determine what they took from this book and how they (now) understand the different behavior types.While there are not many things that I would change about the book, there are some pieces that could help provide some clarity for the reader. I loved how each behavior was talked about in detail; however, there were some parts where I really had to stop and think about what behavior was being talked about and reflect on what was said about that “color” chapters beforehand. This was likely due to the fact that it would spend the course of four chapters talking about each behavior type individually in relation to one concept or situation. It may have been better for the author to adjust this so that each situation was talked about for a single behavior type. For example, perhaps chapters four through nine could have talked about just green behavior, describing the different situations, scenarios and ideas that are discussed for that behavior throughout the book. This was not a huge issue since there were a variety of visuals, but it may be difficult for some readers who lack reading comprehension skills or have problems organizing information in their minds.