Book Review: Surrounded by Idiots

When I was perusing my library app for my next book, the title Surrounded By Idiots immediately grabbed my attention.  The book was written by Thomas Erikson and explains the four types of human behavior through the use of the colors red, yellow, green and blue.  When I took the test many years ago, it was called DISC which stands for Dominance, Influence, Submission and Compliance but the author also refers to the DISA system switching the term Compliance with Analytical.

As for the human behaviors, reds are driven, competitive and set high expectations.  They view themselves as big picture and don’t like to dive into the details but they have a strong need to get things done.  Yellows are social butterflies who love change – often for the sake of change and don’t appreciate others who whine about so much change.  While the yellow likes change, they aren’t necessarily the best at execution.  Greens are introverts who are reliable but often wait for clear direction to motivate them into action.  They also need time alone to recover from socializing with others.  Blues are very analytical, logical and ask many questions.  Typically people exhibit behaviors of two colors for example, red/yellow.

The book explains these behaviors in detail and includes many examples that resonated with me having dealt with someone else’s behavior or having exhibited many of the behaviors myself.  The book also equips the reader with tools to use when dealing with each of these behavioral types.  Having insights into these behaviors really does help me better interact with others – especially in tense situations.  Surrounded by Idiots is worth reading.  And yes, if you haven’t yet guessed, reds are the ones that believe they are “surrounded by idiots”.