Whether it’s at work or in your personal life, understanding others is paramount to a healthy life.
Not long ago, I stumbled across a book that caught my attention purely for its title: ‘Surrounded by Idiots’.
I found myself wondering about the contents of a book that came with such a harsh title and immediately gave the blurb a read.
Intrigued by the idea that effective (and ineffective) communication lay solely in a lack of understanding and a failure to connect with ‘certain types’ of people, I decided to open myself up to the Thomas Erikson method that promises elevated communication and social skills.
Erikson is a behavioural expert, bestselling author and active lecturer, so this book had my trust from the onset.
The blurb asks, “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 rub you the wrong way?”
It turns out that if, like me, at various stages of your life, you’ve felt the answers were yes to these questions, you are not alone.
This was enough for me to take to the plunge and purchase this read.
‘Surrounded by Idiots’ breaks personalities down into four types using colours: red, blue, green, and yellow.
I was immediately drawn in by the idea that perhaps my past awkward, disappointing, or confusing social encounters may have rested upon my lack of knowledge about certain personality types.
You know those interactions where you walk away feeling like you said the wrong thing or that your point was misunderstood? These, apparently, can come from a clash in the personality colours.
What I didn’t expect was that I would understand myself better, too.
And as soon as I hit the chapter about the green personality type, I immediately realised why certain people, jobs, and social settings may have left me feeling disheartened, in a pit of overthinking and overwhelm, or on edge.
Greens, according to Erikson, are reliable and friendly, but possibly to their detriment. They tend to please people and fear not being liked.
They also, which I can speak to, tend to hold many views and opinions but hold back on expressing them over a need to fit in, which tends to make them blend into the background, something they are all too okay with.
Change can be quite difficult for my personality type to make peace with, as well as a sense of security being almost overly important to Green’s.
The majority of the population has green as their dominant quality, which, in true green fashion, was a reassuring fact to learn.
Reds, however, are green’s polar opposite: bold, ambitious, driven, and potentially hot-tempered, rash, or dominant. These are the go-getters and natural-born leaders who have no trouble expressing their feelings.
A green and a red may clash, particularly in the workplace, as a red’s are more than happy to communicate in any way they see fit, which may come across as blunt or overwhelming due to their ambitious nature, which can hurt the green personality type given their need to be liked and live an easy life.
Yellow, however, are the social butterflies’—the’ones who are daring, resourceful, and confident. They are among the most optimistic of the bunch but struggle to live by regimented systems, always looking for fun, creativity, and new ways to live their lives to the fullest.
They thrive in good times, which is a great thing, but can be perceived as careless or even selfish.
The blue personality type could never understand the life of a yellow, as they live for rules and structure.
The ever-analytical blue is likely the person in your life who frets over labels or deadlines and runs a highly organised and tight ship.
This is the kind of person who will read the instructions manual cover to cover before attempting to assemble furniture or has a colour-coded Excel sheet for everything, something yellow would find tedious and boring.
All of this just scratches the surface on ‘Surrounded By Idiots’, which has sold millions of copies worldwide.
It offers a simple but powerful method for understanding other people’s personalities, inside and outside the office, and shares useless insights about our own traits and how they can aid or hurt social interactions.
This book also comes with advice on handling conflict with confidence, improving dynamics within a team or with your boss, and how to get the best out of people you manage or deal with.
There is a little bit of science to read, and if that’s not your thing, I promise, it’s worth persevering.
‘Surrounded by Idiots’ offers incredible information that can change the way you communicate and navigate meeting or working with new people.
It, for me, is very high on the list of books I would recommend that everyone reads.
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