Thomas Erickson’s Surrounded by Idiots is a must-read if you consider your boss, sibling, friend, and most importantly your ex an idiot. In twenty-one chapters, the author detailly explores the world of personality types and gives us an in-depth understanding of PEOPLE.
In this review, I will focus on three main segments: the book’s content, its delivery method, and finally, the practical application of its content. Sit tight, and enjoy!
Why Read Thomas Erikson’s Surrounded by Idiots?
Content
Before we talk about its content, let us first take a moment to acknowledge this book’s cover page. I often ignore cover pages because they hardly get me coming back for more. However, this book’s cover page is different. It has handy information about different temperaments or human behaviours. This serves as my quick reference guide every time.
So, let us dive into the real reason you are here. Should you or should you not read this book? Well, I think everyone with a mind, soul, and body should read this book. And if spirits desire, they can join the queue as well. Thomas Erikson’s Surrounded by Idiots is a well-written modern explanation of human behaviour. Its twenty-one chapters are loaded with how to deal with people. From handling colleagues to spouses, friends, and bosses, Thomas Erikson left no stone unturned.
Furthermore, the book explains why we are all different and introduces the DISC system of human behaviour. By the end of this book, you should be able to categorize people under the four temperaments (Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue), as well as understand their strengths, and weaknesses.
Delivery
Before we begin, I want to acknowledge on behalf of all book lovers that saving up for a book is a painful experience and purchasing a book in this economy is laborious. The least an author can do for its readers is to make the reading process pain-free. And I must admit, Thomas Erikson did just that. I enjoyed every page. What stood out to me the most was the author’s use of short chapters. Bless his heart. This made it easy to access information and complete a chapter in one sitting.
Reading through a book with ease is a plus for me, as such, I appreciate the author’s use of simple language. This book rekindled my fondness for non-fiction and personality traits after many articles on temperaments left me lost in the clouds of academic jargon. The author equally uses stories that massively elevate the content’s delivery – a point I believe will appeal to most fiction readers.
Practical Application
Surrounded by Idiots doesn’t have practice exercises like Roger Seip’s Train Your Brain for Success. However, the questionnaire at the end of the book helps readers practice what they have learned. I found it really useful. Additionally, the book’s easy-to-understand delivery makes up for its lack of exercises. And the real-life experiences shared in the book are equally beneficial.
Finally, this book will enable you to better relate with everyone. The only thing I found disturbing about the content is the constant repetition of certain points. But this is no big deal if you are new to the concept of human behaviour. Repetition will go a long way to ease your understanding.
Thanks for reading. I hope this was helpful.
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