Surrounded by Idiots
The Four Types of Human Behaviour and How to Effectively Communicate with Each in Business (and in Life)
Published on 28. August 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-1-78504-620-9 (ISBN)
Description
The funny and practical bestseller and global phenomenon that teaches you how to improve your communication skills in relation to four distinct personality types - now fully revised and updated.
THE NUMBER 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
OVER 10 MILLION COPIES SOLD
Do you ever think you're the only one making any sense?
Have you ever tried to reason with your partner, and nothing went as planned?
Have you ever left a work meeting with the feeling that nobody understood your point?
You are not alone.
Communication expert Thomas Erikson has dedicated himself to understanding how people behave and why we often struggle to connect with certain types of people.
In his global bestseller, Erikson introduces four types of human personalities - red, yellow, green, and blue - using them to offer a simple but powerful way to understand people's behaviour, communication style, and motivation.
By learning to recognise and work with these personality types, you'll be able to:
Build stronger relationships at work and home
Improve teamwork and leadership skills
Boost empathy and self-awareness
Finally understand why people behave the way they do
This fully revised and expanded edition, shaped by questions and feedback from millions of readers worldwide, includes 30% more content, delivering even deeper insight than before.
Packed with humour and practical strategies, Surrounded by Idiots will help you understand and better communicate with those around you (even people you currently think are beyond all comprehension!).
Praise for Surrounded by Idiots and Thomas Erikson:
'Accessible and entertaining' Publishers Weekly
'A good resource for understanding how different personalities communicate and deal with feedback...Everyone should read [it]' Business Insider
'Equal parts logical, emotionally astute, and gut-wrenchingly funny...Buy it!' Jim McPartlin, author of The Enneagram at Work
'Everyone can benefit from this book' Booklist
'Life changing' ? ? ? ? ?
'Has enabled better communication with my peers and colleagues as well as my family.' ? ? ? ? ?
'Clear, insightful easy to read book with plenty [of] practical advice' ? ? ? ? ?
'A must-read to guide you on understanding yourself and others' ? ? ? ? ?
THE NUMBER 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
OVER 10 MILLION COPIES SOLD
Do you ever think you're the only one making any sense?
Have you ever tried to reason with your partner, and nothing went as planned?
Have you ever left a work meeting with the feeling that nobody understood your point?
You are not alone.
Communication expert Thomas Erikson has dedicated himself to understanding how people behave and why we often struggle to connect with certain types of people.
In his global bestseller, Erikson introduces four types of human personalities - red, yellow, green, and blue - using them to offer a simple but powerful way to understand people's behaviour, communication style, and motivation.
By learning to recognise and work with these personality types, you'll be able to:
Build stronger relationships at work and home
Improve teamwork and leadership skills
Boost empathy and self-awareness
Finally understand why people behave the way they do
This fully revised and expanded edition, shaped by questions and feedback from millions of readers worldwide, includes 30% more content, delivering even deeper insight than before.
Packed with humour and practical strategies, Surrounded by Idiots will help you understand and better communicate with those around you (even people you currently think are beyond all comprehension!).
Praise for Surrounded by Idiots and Thomas Erikson:
'Accessible and entertaining' Publishers Weekly
'A good resource for understanding how different personalities communicate and deal with feedback...Everyone should read [it]' Business Insider
'Equal parts logical, emotionally astute, and gut-wrenchingly funny...Buy it!' Jim McPartlin, author of The Enneagram at Work
'Everyone can benefit from this book' Booklist
'Life changing' ? ? ? ? ?
'Has enabled better communication with my peers and colleagues as well as my family.' ? ? ? ? ?
'Clear, insightful easy to read book with plenty [of] practical advice' ? ? ? ? ?
'A must-read to guide you on understanding yourself and others' ? ? ? ? ?
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Ebury Publishing
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 127 mm
Width: 194 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
276 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78504-620-9 (9781785046209)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Thomas Erikson
Surrounded by Idiots
The Four Types of Human Behaviour and How to Effectively Communicate with Each in Business (and in Life)
E-Book
08/2025
Ebury Digital
€7.99
Available for download
Previous edition
Thomas Erikson
Surrounded by Idiots
The Four Types of Human Behaviour (or, How to Understand Those Who Cannot Be Understood)
Book
07/2019
Vermilion
€33.61
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Thomas Erikson is a Swedish behaviourist, internationally sought-after keynote speaker, mentor and author. For over 25 years, he has travelled the world delivering seminars and lectures, mentoring executives at companies such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, KIA Motors, Volvo and IKEA. His book Surrounded by Idiots is one of Sweden's best-selling non-fiction titles of all time, with more than seven million copies sold in 70 languages. The whole Surrounded By series has so far sold twelve million copies worldwide. He lives in the Swedish countryside with his wife Christina, who is also an author.