Books

Surrounded by idiots – Thomas Erikson

Who is Thomas Erikson? 

Thomas Erikson is a Swedish writer, lecturer and expert on communicating and human behaviour. He works with different organizations and helps them improve in the management of their staff. Over the past eighteen years, more than five thousand leaders and managers have extended their leadership skills and learned to be more effective in their field with Thomas Erikson’s help. During his career, he has written several world popular books about communication and human behaviour.

Surrounded by idiots

The book surrounded by idiots written by Thomas Erikson is one of the best selling books of fact literature in Sweden, where more than a million copies have been purchased. It has been translated into forty languages ​​and sold worldwide. This book offers you a better understanding for different types of behaviour and you also learn a lot about yourself.

What is the book about?

The author describes and divides four basic behaviours into four colors (red, yellow, green and blue) using the personality typology of DISC. Despite the fact that the book belongs in the category of fact and popular-educational literature, it is not boring at all. You don’t have to worry, extensive theorems, with the concepts you would not even know that exist are not found in this book. On the contrary, there are a lot of examples and short stories that help the reader to understand better the type of personality that is described and at the same time amuse him. While reading, you will start to connect people from surroundings with certain personalities and finally you will understand that the traits they posses and you considered them as weird are completely normal for their personality type. You can also learn about the strengths or weaknesses of each color, as how to tell them some bad news, who works well with whom and vice versa, which type of personality cannot stand each other, etc.

Thomas Erikson - Obklopený idiotmi

What does DISC mean? 

DISC is a personality typology that divides people into four basic types of personality. Each dominates specific traits, strengths and weaknesses or different temperaments.

D – Dominant type 

I – Influential type 

S – Stable type

C – Compliant type 

Red – the dominant type

  • focused on tasks and problems
  • extrovert, active, acting

Characteristics: determined, aspirable, tough, decisive, solves problems, energetic, competitive, dynamic, curious, direct / honest, initiator, impatient, assertive

This type of personality is also characterized by: sharp reactions, powerful inclinations to control, poor interests on caution in relationships, emphasis on presence, direct proceedings, tendency to reject inaction.

Yellow – the influential type

  • orientated at relationships, 
  • extrovert, active, acting

Characteristics: social, credible, verbally proficient, open, positive, empathetic, optimist, creative, spontaneous, sensitive, needs attention

This type of personality is also characterized by: rapid reactions, strong slopes to engage, weak interest in routine, emphasis on future, impulsive action, tendency to refuse isolation.

Green – the stable type

  • orientated at relationships, 
  • introvert, passive, restrained

Characteristics: patient, reliable, attentive, restrained, kind, persistent, good listener, friendly, careful, initiator, willing, faithful, respectful

This type of personality is also characterized by: peaceful reactions, strong slope to associate, weak interest in change, emphasis on presence, helping others, tendency to avoid conflicts.

Blue – the compliant type

  • focused on tasks and problems, 
  • introvert, passive, restrained

Characteristics: investigative, alert, systematic, puntium, precision, logical, conventional, with spacing, perfectionist, methodical, glad to examine, comply with rules arranged

This type of personality is also characterized by: slow reactions, strong slopes to organize, weak interest in relationships, emphasis on the past, prudent conduct, tendencies do not apply.

Review

Personally, I recommend you to read this book at least once. Not only will it help you to get more familiar with your personality type, but also to perceive people’s behaviour around you with hospitality. You will understand that in situations when you thought about others that they responded like idiots, you actually indeed marked them wrongly because in fact, they reacted only as the personality type they are. What I liked while reading this book was that I really started to  assign all the colors to people from my surroundings. It helped me to be more understanding towards them and not judge them just because they reacted differently from me. Needless to make conclusions and think that having one trait as one of the colors, it doesn’t automatically represents you and your behaviour. Most people have a combination of two or even three types of personalities, but yes, there are individuals who represent only one type. There are a lot of personality types, but I think these four to which the author is devoted in the book are a good foundation and start for you.

Author

veronika.durik@gmail.com

Comments

9. July 2021 at 16:14

one of the literary books he wrote, what was the title?



10. December 2021 at 8:39

It?s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you?re talking about! Thanks



22. December 2021 at 4:57

very good put up, i actually love this website, carry on it



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