What We’re Reading: Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson

For this month’s reading material, we turned our attention to communication and collaboration at work, and that led us straight to Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson. After weighing up a number of popular titles on personality and behavior, Erikson’s book stood out for one prominent reason: it promises to explain why people so often misunderstand one another, and how those misunderstandings can be reduced with a bit more insight and empathy.

Thomas Erikson is a Swedish behavioral expert, leadership coach, and lecturer, with years of experience working with management teams and organizations. Drawing on this background, Surrounded by Idiots introduces readers to a color-based personality framework rooted in DISC behavioral theory. Erikson argues that many everyday frustrations stem not from incompetence or bad intent, but from fundamentally different communication styles clashing together.

The core idea of the book is simple but powerful, and it’s that people tend to fall into four broad behavioral types, represented by colors. Reds are dominant, decisive, and results-driven. Yellows are social, enthusiastic, and idea oriented. Greens are calm, supportive, and relationship-focused, and Blues are analytical, structured, and detail-driven. Problems arise, therefore, when we assume that others think, communicate, and prioritize in the same way that we do (or, in these terms, assume they are the same communication color as us!).

The book begins by exploring why miscommunication is so common, particularly in fast-paced or high-pressure environments. Thomas explains how our own behavioral preferences shape the way we interpret tone, urgency, feedback, and even silence. What one person sees as efficiency, another may experience as abruptness, and it’s this difference in perceptions that leads to those common miscommunications.

Having outlined the problem, he then moves into practical application. Each color type is examined in depth, including its strengths, stress responses, blind spots, and communication preferences. Importantly, he also provides guidance on how to adapt your own behavior when dealing with each type, whether that means being more direct, allowing space for discussion, providing reassurance, or backing up opinions with data.

A key theme running throughout the book is adaptability. Thomas is clear that the goal is not to label people or excuse poor behavior, but to build self-awareness and flexibility. He argues that effective communication is not actually about being right, but instead about being understood. By adjusting how we communicate, we can significantly reduce friction and improve outcomes for teams and organizations alike.

If you would like to discuss how we can help create a communicative harmony in your workplace no matter what personality type your employees are, please do get in touch with us today!

And in the meantime, be sure to grab a copy of Thomas Erikson’s classic, which you can purchase here in the UK and here in the US.