intellectual elasticity
introverts
Blues as
Greens as
intuition
Blues and
Yellows and
invisibility, Yellows and
isolation, Yellows and
J
Jobs, Steve
Jung, Carl
K
kindness, Greens and
L
language. See also Body language
learning
leadership, Greens and
learning
overview of
quiz for assessment of
lethargy, Blues and
Levit, Edouard
liars
lie detectors
limitations, Reds and
listening
Blues and
communication and
Greens and
Yellows and
logic, Blues and
loose ends, Greens and
M
Marston, William Moulton
martyr complex
mistakes
Blues and
Greens and
Reds and
modesty, Blues and
mucus
N
negative feedback. See Feedback
normal behavior, overview of
O
Obama, Barack
Obama, Michelle
O’Connor, Sandra Day
opinions, Reds and
optimism
Reds and
Yellows and
organization, Yellows and
P
passivity
Greens and
Marston’s model and
perception
of Blues by others
of Blues by self
of Greens by others
of Greens by self
of Reds by others
of Reds by self
of self by others
of Yellows by others
of Yellows by self
perfect world
personal space, body language and
personal zone
personality, behavior and
persuasion, Yellows and
pessimism
black bile and
Blues and
phlegm
phlegmatic behavior
pigeonholing
pigheadedness
popularity, Yellows and
posture, body language and
power, Reds and
predictability
Greens and
Reds and
Yellows and
preparation, Blues and
public speaking, Yellows and
Q
quality, Blues and
quiz, for assessment of learning
R
realism
Blues and
Reds and
Reds
adapting to
aggression and
ambition and
anger and
behaving when meeting
body language of
bullying and
change and
combining with other colors
competition and
conflict and
control and
cooperation and
criticism and
decision-making and
description of
details and
diligence and
efficiency and
egotism and
energy and
enthusiasm and
exclusion and
giving feedback to
helping with stress
honesty and
impatience and
initiative and
lack of limitations and
limitations and
mistakes and
opinions and
optimism and
overview of
perception of by others
perception of by self
power and
realism and
repetition and
respect and
risks and
routine and
rules and
scapegoats and
speed and
stress factors for
stress responses of
strong opinions and
teamwork example and
temperament of
winning and
relationships
Greens and
Yellows and
reliability, Greens and
repetition
feedback and
Greens and
Reds and
respect, Reds and
responsibility, Greens and
rhetoric, Yellows and
Rice, Condoleezza
risks
Blues and
Reds and
Rogers, Fred
Roosevelt, Franklin D.
routine
Greens and
Reds and
Yellows and
rules
Blues and
Reds and
S
sandwich method
sanguine behavior
scapegoats, Reds and
security, Greens and
self-centeredness, Yellows and
silence, Blues and
silent resistance
skepticism, Yellows and
slog or split phenomenon
social zone
speed
Blues and
Greens and
Reds and
Yellows and
spontaneity
Blues and
Yellows and
spotlight, Greens and
stability
DISA and
Greens and
Stefan, feedback from
stress factors
for Blues
Blues’ responses to
different responses to
for Greens
Greens’ responses to
helping Blues with
helping Greens with
helping Reds with
helping Yellows with
overview of
for Reds
Reds’ responses to
for Yellows
Yellows’ responses to
structure, Yellows and
submission. See also DISA
overview of
surprises, Blues and
surrounding factors, behavior and
T
talking, Yellows and
teamwork. See also Combinations
example from everyday life
Greens and
temperament. See also Anger
of Blues
of Greens
overview of
of Reds
of Yellows
Teresa (Mother)
territory, body language and
Thatcher, Margaret
thoughtfulness, Greens and
time management, Yellows and
tolerance, Greens and
trouble-shooting, Yellows and
trust, Blues and
TTI Success Insights
U
unknown, Greens and
Utopia
V
values, core
W
water
Williams, Robin
Williams, Venus
Winfrey, Oprah
winning, Reds and
written communication
Y
yellow bile
Yellows
adapting to
approachability and
behaving when meeting
body language of
boredom and
clutter and
combining with other colors
communication and
conflict and
creativity and
criticism and
cur
iosity and
decision-making and
description of
details and
disorganization and
egocentrism and
egotism and
empathy and
energy and
excitement and
flattery and
focus and
friendship and
giving feedback to
helping with stress
humiliation and
intuition and
invisibility and
isolation and
lack of focus and
listening and
optimism, enthusiasm and
optimism and
organization and
overview of
perception of by others
perception of by self
persuasion and
popularity and
public speaking and
relationships and
rhetoric and
routine and
self-centeredness and
skepticism and
speed and
spontaneity and
stress factors for
stress responses of
structure and
talking and
teamwork example and
temperament of
thinking outside the box and
time management and
trouble-shooting and
About the Author
THOMAS ERIKSON is an expert on communication. He works with developing organizations from a leadership perspective. In the past eighteen years he has trained more than five thousand executives to be better and more efficient leaders. Thomas has written several popular science books on communication and human behavior. Surrounded by Idiots is one of Sweden’s bestselling nonfiction books, with hundreds of thousands of copies sold in Sweden alone. The book has been sold in more than thirty-five other languages around the world. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Foreword by David Bonnstetter
Introduction: The Man Who Was Surrounded by Idiots
1. Communication Happens on the Listener’s Terms
2. Why Are We the Way We Are?
3. An Introduction to the System
4. Red Behavior: How to Recognize a Real Alpha and Avoid Getting in His Way
5. Yellow Behavior: How to Recognize Someone Whose Head Is in the Clouds and Get Him Back to Reality Again
6. Green Behavior: Why Change Is So Difficult and How to Get Around It
7. Blue Behavior: In Pursuit of Perfection
8. No One Is Completely Perfect: Strengths and Weaknesses
9. Learning New Things: How to Use What You’ve Learned
10. Body Language: Why How You Move Matters: How Do You Really Look?
11. A Real-Life Example: The Company Party—How to Understand Everyone You Meet
12. Adaptation: How to Handle Idiots (i.e., Everyone Who Isn’t like You)
13. How to Deliver Really Bad News: The Challenge of Speaking Your Mind
14. Who Gets Along and Why It Works: Group Dynamics at Their Finest
15. Written Communication: How to Evaluate Someone When You Can’t Meet in Person
16. What Makes Us as Mad as Hell?: Temperament Can Reveal Everything About a Person
17. Stress Factors and Energy Thieves: What Is Stress?
18. A Short Reflection Through History: People Have Always Been like This
19. Voices from Real Life
20. A Quick Little Quiz to See What You’ve Learned
21. A Final Example from Everyday Life: Perhaps the Most Enlightening Team Project in the History of the World
The Answers to the Questions in Chapter 20
Further Reading
Index
About the Author
Copyright
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Essentials, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS. Copyright © 2019 by Thomas Erikson. Foreword copyright © 2019 by David Bonnstetter. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
Translated by Martin Pender and Rod Bradbury
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Pete Garceau
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-17994-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-25517-4 (international, sold outside the U.S., subject to rights availability)
ISBN 978-1-250-17995-1 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250179951
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First published in Sweden as Omgiven av idioter by HOI
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Essentials
First U.S. Edition: July 2019
Surrounded by Idiots Page 26