Have you ever felt like you were surrounded by idiots, because no one understands your personality, or can work with you easily? Perhaps, you’ve always wondered why that one work colleague must follow every rule. Or, why your boss is so demanding, with no appreciation for the details and systems you’ve implemented. Well, look no further. ‘Surrounded by Idiots’ unravels different personality types. It describes personalities that work well together and which ones completely clash.
‘Surrounded by Idiots‘ was written by Thomas Erikson, a Swedish behavioural expert who spent twenty years providing leadership training to major corporations. He dedicated himself to understanding how people function and why we struggle to connect with certain personality types. Erikson devoted over 20 years of his career to helping people communicate with each other. He believes that when you understand the basis of each personality type, you can adapt your communication style to handle the people around you more easily and get the best out of everyone- be it at work, in public or at home.
In this blog post, I’ll give you a short summary of ‘Surrounded by Idiots’ and review, that will leave you wanting to delve straight into the book yourself.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Difficulty level: Easy read
Key topics: human behaviour, human interactions, conflict management and leadership styles.
‘Surrounded by Idiots’ General Review
This book takes a look at different human behaviours. It categorises behaviours into 4 different colours, which are blue, red, yellow and green. Your colour is dependent on whether you’re task or relationship-orientated, and whether you’re extroverted or introverted (see diagram below).
The book tells you how to deal with different colours. It explains how to recognise each behaviour, how each colour handles conflict, their strengths and weaknesses and applies everything to real-life examples. It dives into which personality types work well together, and which ones clash entirely.
I’ll give a little summary of each behavioural colour, including their strengths and weaknesses. Don’t worry, I’ll not ruin it for you though, I’ll let you enjoy it yourself (you ever meet those people who give a ‘summary’ and end up telling the entire movie/ book/ tv show from beginning to end? I wonder if Thomas Erikson could make a colour specifically for these people, as I would like to avoid them at all costs).
Red Personality Type
The book describes reds as ‘dominant’ characters. Their characteristics are:
- Quick reactions,
- Maximum effort to control,
- Minimal interest for caution in relationships,
- Current time frame,
- Direct action,
- Tendency to avoid involvement.
Reds can be aggressive, ambitious, strong-willed, goal orientated, pushing, problem solvers, controlling, convincing, independent. The list goes on. Red people see themselves as driven, resolute, ambitious, prompt, decisive.
(I found it interesting that the book differentiated between what each colour thought they were like, to what they actually were like. Those old egos getting in the way).
Yellow Personality Type
Yellows are described as ‘inspiring’. Their typical traits are:
- Rapid reactions,
- Maximum effort to involve others,
- Minimal interest in routine,
- Future focused,
- Impulsive,
- Tendency to reject isolation.
Yellows are talkative, enthusiastic, persuasive, creative, optimistic, social, spontaneous, charming, communicative, self-centred, in need of attention, and the list goes on. Yellows often see themselves as open books, flexible, convincing, enthusiastic, easygoing.
Green Personality Type
The book describes greens as ‘stable’. Their typical traits are:
- Calm reactions,
- Maximum effort for connection with others,
- Minimal interest in change,
- Current time frame,
- Supportive action,
- Tendency to reject conflict.
Greens are patient, relaxed, self-controlled, loyal, modest, reluctant, understanding, stable, supportive and the list goes on. Greens often see themselves as pleasant, predictable, friendly, team players, thoughtful people.
Blue Personality Type
The book describes blues as ‘analytical’. Their characteristics are:
- Slow reactions,
- Maximum effort to organise,
- Minimal interest in relationships,
- Historical time frame,
- Cautious action,
- Tendency to avoid involvement.
Blues are conscientious, systematic, distant, correct, conventional, structured, methodical, questioning, reserved, and follow rules. Blues see themselves as orderly, unassuming, quality-orientated, logical people.
So that is my extremely short summary of the different personality ‘colours’, outlined in the book. I bet some of yous were reading characteristics and had one specific person pop into your head each time. The book delves into each ‘colour’ much deeper, describing real-life examples and how we can deal with their reactions.
What I liked about ‘Surrounded by Idiots’
After reading this book, I gained a better understanding of certain personality types that I previously didn’t understand at all.
Furthermore, it gave me a better understanding of myself. I am aware of my strengths and my shortcomings, but this book definitely highlights certain things you should take into account for greater self-awareness. If for instance, you can identify with a ‘yellow’ personality and one of their downfalls is being a poor listener, it might be a good self-reflection exercise to think about how much you do truly listen. Perhaps you’ve been told this in the past and it’s something you’d like to improve on.
If you identify strongly with one or two colours, you can also build further on your so-called ‘strengths’. If the book reiterates strengths you believe you have, it could be a good chance to build on your best qualities even further.
I also enjoyed when the book gives you further examples, certain people in your life pop into your head, which I found quite enjoyable (you imagine these scenarios fitting certain friends or family members perfectly) and many of the examples used were very entertaining.
What I disliked about ‘Surrounded by Idiots’
Initially, I thought the entire concept was so simplistic. How could you categorise the entire population into 4 colours? However, as I read onwards, I understood what the framework was trying to achieve. The book wasn’t aiming to summarise everyone in the entire population. Instead, it aims to take an overall view of how each extreme personality ‘colour’ may react in certain situations. As many people tend to be a combination of two or even three colours, to differing degrees, not everyone’s ‘colour’ is evident.
I do think the book is useful, however, one downside could be if you read into your ‘colour’ weaknesses to the extent that you’re feeling bad about your long list of shortcomings. For example: “Oh no! From reading the book, I know I’m a green, so that means I’ll never be able to be a team leader as the book said I’m too cautious.” (funnily enough, this statement would be typical green behaviour, as according to the book, they tend to be cautious and risk-averse).
My point is (I’m getting there, please hold onto that patience of yours), don’t set any limitations on yourself, just because of your ‘colour’ in the framework. It’s important to take the book at face value, and don’t read into your ‘colour’ too much. Yes, it is useful for self-awareness, reflections and interactions with others. However, don’t base your entire beliefs about yourself and your peers on it. People are fluid and you cannot categorise them entirely, in my opinion (I am definitely not a human behaviour analyst or anywhere near it, so keep in mind that this is my own, silly review).
Conclusion
Overall, it’s a great book. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, I do think it’s quite enjoyable and you can definitely learn a lot from it. You can take some of your findings into your everyday life and apply them to the people you meet.
Is it entirely life-changing? No.
Can we apply it to our everyday life to help better understand our colleagues/ friends? Yes.
For that reason, I would definitely recommend that you give it a go. No doubt, certain friends and family members will be popping into your head on more than one occasion- even if they wouldn’t entirely agree with you. It is entertaining, an easy read and something you can use to improve your relationships, especially in a working environment where everyone handles situations differently.
After reading this book, you may feel so in touch with those around you that you’re ready to take your relationships to the next level and ask them my, ‘Questions to Improve Conversations in 2021.‘ Except, maybe avoid asking these questions to overly ‘blue’ personalities during working hours. They won’t be interested.
If you decide to read it, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts, or send me a message on Instagram.
Eilís x
