Surrounded by Idiots

April 29, 2019
A basic but useful guide to communicating with the uncommunicable arrives from executive trainer Erikson. He begins with a story of interviewing a self-made entrepreneur who declared himself “surrounded by idiots” at his company. Though Erikson’s follow-up question—“Who hired all these idiots?”—saw him thrown out of the office, he credits the experience with sparking his interest in why people do or don’t work well together, and in the tendency to view those one consistently disagrees with or misunderstands as “idiots.” To help readers put the kibosh on judgment and strive more to understand others, he lays out a color-coded personality trait matrix —Red (dominant), Blue (analytical) Yellow (inspiring), and Green (stable)—then explains how to adapt and tailor one’s written communications and in-person behavior for the best collaborative results with other personality types. Though a simplified model, it provides a helpful way of framing intent vs. impact. Marred only by an ill-judged decision to use only masculine pronouns when referring to hypothetical situations, this book—already a bestseller in Sweden—is clearly, dynamically presented and easy to grasp. Agent: Maria Enberg, Enberg Literary.

Starred review from July 1, 2019
Humans are complex creatures and behave that way. Author and communications expert Erikson peels back the layers to help us understand why we feel that we are right?and others are wrong?thus making us feel like we are surrounded by idiots. He bases his theories on the Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance (DISC) method. This method is associated with a color system, which Erikson takes to a new level by assigning general personality types to the four groups: red (bold, ambitious, driven), yellow (talkative, entertaining, optimistic), green (tolerant, balanced, calm), and blue (reserved, analytical, detail-oriented). He helps readers understand each type and how to relate and communicate with them and delves into type overlap, noting that 80 percent of people are a combination of colors. Readers will be delighted to find numerous other topics, including how to handle idiots, how to manage written communication based on type, real-life examples, a knowledge quiz, and much more. Most everyone can benefit from this book, especially those in the workplace. In addition, parents, educators, and students will find these insights valuable.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)