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  • Surrounded by Idiots

  • The Four Types of Human Behavior and How to Effectively Communicate with Each in Business (and in Life)
  • Written by: Thomas Erikson
  • Narrated by: David John
  • Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (850 ratings)

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Surrounded by Idiots cover art

Surrounded by Idiots

Written by: Thomas Erikson
Narrated by: David John
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Publisher's Summary

A runaway best seller in Sweden that has sold more than a million copies worldwide, 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.

Author Thomas Erikson explains that 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. Erikson breaks down the four kinds of behavior types - 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 - and explains how to identify and interact with each type of person. Instead of being bogged down with overly technical categorizations, the simple four-color system allows you to speedily identify a friend or coworker and adjust how you speak and share with them.

Surrounded by Idiots is full of 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Text copyright by Thomas Erikson; Foreword copyright by David Bonnstetter (P)2019 Penguin Audio

What listeners say about Surrounded by Idiots

Average Customer Ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Aha moment for a Red like me

I learned I was 100% red in this book and WHY I feel the way I do about so many of the "Idiots" I'm surrounded by. Really great read and I found myself laughing along at how spot on the characteristics of each colour are - especially my own. Highly recommend this book if you want a better inside look into the thoughts and minds of the people around you and how to better deal with different personality traits in your family, friend group and work place.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting but predictable

Interesting book, but slightly repetitive. In many ways the author goes to extreme behavior and offers a similar way to deal with all people. Certainly worth reading, but as a red it could've been more concise.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Could have been shorter

I read this with my work book club. I found that it gets repetitive and tedious as you go on.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good level of effort, light, and enjoyable!

I believe this book was useful in helping me connecting the dots, most of the observations and descriptions for each color were already seen and heard but the frame, categorization, and understanding were missing before this reading, especially when we deal with a mix of personalities. It helped me understand my reactions more and the dynamics I experienced in every work environment. I would recommend this book for people who are heavily involved in corporate career path, as it doesn’t really get close or deep to the personal aspect of relationships, few stories here and there, but more focused on work dynamics and flow.

Appreciated efforts, I enjoyed the level of details included, thank you!

Ghada

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This should be teached at primary school, such a masterpiece

I was already acquainted with the four-color personality types, but this book significantly enriched my understanding and equipped me with tools for dealing with "all the challenging individuals around me." The author's clever use of sarcasm and numerous everyday examples effectively illustrates his ideas. Additionally, the included PDFs, graphics, and quirky details at the end further enhance comprehension.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Phenomenal book. Minor technical concern.

Book was fantastic! Really enjoyed it and helped me think.

Poor rating is only because the chapters on audivle don’t align with the one wirh words. For example, audible started chapter 12 on the audio. But the display showed chapter 11 and was only a few minutes later

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

refines what most people already understand

Fun listening experience on the work shift. Its one of the first audio books I've ever listened to. The narrator was great and the amount of repeating throughout the book really helps if your are listening to the book at work.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

research before trusting

well written and narrated, however, no scientific support of this theory as the author himself is not a scientist. do some research and look the book and the author up before starting. amusing read, take it with a grain of salt.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Now what I’d hoped for

Just a lot of a lot about nothing. Was hoping for more. Disagreed with a lot of the classifications.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • P
  • 2023-07-10

A must-read for managers.

A bit monotonous and slow, but very clear accent and voice.
Great content but a bit reparative.

Gives you a great insight into people’s behaviour, and why they react/response in a certain way.

And yes, I am red-blue, with a dash of yellow.LOL

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