Surrounded by Idiots

The Four Types of Human Behaviour (or, How to Understand Those Who Cannot Be Understood)

By: Thomas Erikson

Narrated by: David John

Brought to you by Penguin

Do you ever think you're the only one making any sense? Or tried to reason with your partner with disastrous results? Do long, rambling answers drive you crazy? Or does your colleague's abrasive manner get your back up?

You are not alone.

After a disastrous meeting with a highly successful entrepreneur, who was genuinely convinced he was 'surrounded by idiots', communication expert and bestselling author, Thomas Erikson dedicated himself to understanding how people function and why we often struggle to connect with certain types of people.

Originally published in Swedish in 2014 as Omgiven Av Idioter, Erikon's Surrounded by Idiots is already an international phenomenon, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide, of which over 750,000 copies have been sold in Sweden alone. It offers a simple, yet ground-breaking method for assessing the personalities of people we communicate with - in and out of the office - based on four personality types (Red, Blue, Green and Yellow), and provides insights into how we can adjust the way(s) we speak and share information.

Narrated by David John, Erikson will help you understand yourself better, hone communication and social skills, handle conflict with confidence, improve dynamics with your boss and team, and get the best out of the people you deal with and manage. He also shares simple tricks on body language, improving written communication and advice on when to back away or when to push on, and when to speak up or indeed shut up. Packed with 'aha!' and 'oh no!' moments, Surrounded by Idiots will help you understand and influence those around you, even people you currently think are beyond all comprehension.

And with a bit of luck you can also be confident that the idiot out there isn't you!

©2019 Thomas Erikson (P)2019 Penguin Audio

wrong title, liked the book a lot, learned a lot

read all but was hoping to learn how to deal with idiots not different people

Too simplistic and narrow, but fine for an introduction into human behaviour

The book had some interesting insight, but was overall disappointing. Still, it served its purpose. I was already familiar with the DISC personality model before starting the book, but I was interested to gain a wider understanding of the behaviours of the types. However, the book failed to deliver on my expectations and relied solely on simplistic explanations and stereotypical accounts. Humans are multifaceted beings with complex personalities, and Erikson declaring that no person can be all colours (when I am, in fact, all colours) made me question the validity of the information provided in the book. I also questioned the reliability of the real-life accounts since the conversations came across as inauthentic and fabricated due to their textbook dialogue (with regards to their colour). If you’re new to human behaviour and personality types then this book could be a great introduction, but take what you hear with a pinch of salt and do your own research.

Words for your soul

To be so enlightened at peace with yourself
This is my moral compass and the level to which I aspire to strain for.

A must listen

Easy to listen, informative and entertaining.

Got to know myself and the people around me better.

Interesting but not implementable

It was interesting to hear the differences in people but I found it as non implementable.

Great book to read

This book tells about characteristics associated with human species personality in context of color perspectives.

as expected unpacked the detail i required

will need to reread a few more times while making notes to make it a habit of identifying people accurately

Very useful for any adult!

Very good insight for people. It indeed helped me to look at everyone on a more understanding level on how they function. Suggestion- Questionnaire could have been provided as a pdf though

very insightful

Had to finish this one, so interesting. You picture yourself and others throughout the book.

100% great book

Useful for everyone, especially to the yellows: I hopped read it before 10 years ago