surrounded by idiots
Surrounded by Idiots shares a groundbreaking new method of understanding the people around you that will change how you interact with everyone from your coworkers to your spouse. 1
There are four key behavior types that define how we interact with and perceive the people around us. Understanding someone’s pattern of behavior is the key to successful communication.
The four kinds of behavior types - the simple four color system allows you to speedily identify a friend or coworker and adjust how you speak and share with them:
- Reds who are dominant and commanding,
- Yellows who are social and optimistic,
- Greens who are laid back and friendly,
- and Blues who are analytical and precise.
It shares a practical information for interacting with people based on their color, including the strengths and weaknesses of all the profiles, how to give positive and negative feedback to each, and the best way to word an email when writing to someone with a different profile. 2
Some reviews 1 show people CLEARLY offended by this book. Are they’ll really made out of cotton candy or are you guys so embarrased and offended by how right the author is that it enrages you to the core??
Most people don’t like being analyzed and they don’t like it when somebody hits the mark. But on the other hand, most people want to analyze other people and hit the mark (ergo why books like this exist) so who’s the real ambigous one here? 1
The author has a clear system with which he goes about describing his four base personality models. First, he describes them, then he goes on about their weaknesses, how they deal with stress, what stresses them out, how to effectively give them bad feedback and work with them effectively.
The value in this book explains how to approach, give feedback, criticism, workflow, etc. for the different types.
Even if you don’t buy into ideas of people being any particular type you can still use each piece of advice to address a particular situation, e.g. if someone is acting like a “red” you can still use the author’s advice on giving feedback or managing that situation.
At times, we can feel as though we’re surrounded by idiots. Well, chances are you’re not surrounded by idiots so much as by other personality types who simply have different attitudes, values and behavioral patterns than you do.
Whenever you say something, your message will be filtered through the listener’s experiences, biases and attitudes.
Have you wondered why you sometimes need to be alone for a while with your thoughts? Or why you always have to be the center of attention? Why certain people are so careless and sloppy? Or why you surrounded by idiots?
- Red people are impatient and focused on results, yellow people are positive and need to be the center of attention, green people, which are the most common, are calm and good listeners, and blue people are well organized and pay attention to detail.
These four types help to picture them in a two-by-two square, with the top two, from left to right, being Blue and Red, and with Gree positioned below Blue, and Yellow below Red. 1 3
| Blue | Red |
| Green | Yellow |
Now, each side of this square shows how these different personality types share same common traits. At the top, both Blue and Red tend to place importance on tasks and issues. On the bottom, Green and Yellow tend to focus on people and relationships. Likewise, on left you have Blue and Green, who tend to be reserved and introverted. On the right you have Red and Yellow, who tend to be extroverted and proactive.