Back
on February 4, 2020 I blogged about how The Toastmasters Pathways Level 2
project on Understanding Your Communication Style says there are four
communication styles. Where did they come from? In that post I discussed the
DISC model from William Moulton Marston (Dominance – Influence – Steadiness –
Compliance). I mentioned that a popular Swedish book from 2018 by Thomas
Erikson, titled Surrounded by Idiots had restated those four categories as
colors. Now there is a new 2025, fully revised and expanded edition of that
book – Surrounded by Idiots: The four types of human behavior and how to
effectively communicate with each in business (and in life). There is a preview at Google Books. He very briefly mentions the DISC model. But finally on pages
333 to 335 there is a short reflection on its history.
On
page 37 of the book (and a color version at the inside front cover) there is a
four-column table with Different Characteristics per Color, as shown above. The
second row has wording for DISC, but there is no explanatory column at the
left. Then, on pages 38 to 40, there is another excruciatingly long table listing
Characteristic Traits with thirty rows that does include an explanatory column.
And
on page 100 there is a 2x2 table (as shown above) with those four types. [He
didn’t show the words for DISC, but I have added them].
Also,
in Chapter 22 beginning on page 251 Thomas discussed The Most Common
Combinations of two colors, as I have shown above in another table.
The
book jacket claims that:
“Thomas
Erikson is a Swedish behaviorist and the bestselling author of the Surrounded By
books, a series about human behavior and communication. The series, including Surrounded
by Idiots, has sold more than ten million copies in 70 languages.”
A
half-dozen other books in the series are (in chronological order):
2020
Surrounded by Psychopaths: How to protect yourself from being manipulated and exploited inbusiness (and in life)
2021
Surrounded by Bad Bosses (and Lazy Employees): How to stop struggling, start succeeding,and deal with idiots at work
2021
Surrounded by Setbacks: Turning obstacles into success (when everything goes to hell)
2022
Surrounded by Narcissists: How to effectively recognize, avoid, and defend yourselfagainst toxic people (and not lose your mind)
2023
Surrounded by Energy Vampires: How to slay the time, joy, and soul suckers in your life
2024
Surrounded by Liars: How to stop half-truths, deception, and gaslighting from ruining yourlife
A
post at Reddit pointedly asked Has it occurred to Thomas that he might be the
problem?
Thomas
did not bother to add information from his other books to his latest revised one
about Idiots. I found at the public library and skimmed all his others except
the Energy Vampires one. Here are excerpts from some of them.
Page
54 of the Psychopaths book has a better 2x2 table (as shown above) with those
four DISC types.
And
pages 78 and 79 of his Setbacks book has a better table with a description of
the four colors (as shown above). Thomas did not bother to repeat those two
improved graphics in the revised Idiots book.
Similarly,
there is a better Description of DISC on pages 82 and 83 of Surrounded by
Psychopaths:
“The
DISC Model
Not
everything in an individual’s behavior can be explained by the DISC model.
There
are other models that explain behavior, but I use this as the basis because it
is simple to digest and teach. There are more parts of the puzzle than the
colors to map various behavior patterns.
The
DISC model is based on thorough studies and is used throughout the world. It
has been translated into more than fifty different languages.
Historically,
there are similar views in different cultures – for example the four humors
described by Hippocrates, who lived in Greece about 2,500 years ago.
About
80 percent of all people have a combination of two colors that dominate their
behavior. Approximately 5 percent have only one color that dominates behavior.
The others [15 percent] are dominated by three colors.
Entirely
Green behavior, or Green in combination with one other color, is the most
common. The least common is entirely Red behavior, or Red in combination with
one other color.
There
may be differences between the sexes, but I do not deal with the gender
perspective in this book.
The
DISC model does not work for analysing people with ADHD, Asperger’s borderline
personality disorder, or other disorders.
There
are always exceptions to what I claim in this book. People are complex – even Red
people can be humble, and Yellows can listen attentively. There are Green
people who deal with conflict because they have learned what to do, and many
Blues understand when it’s time to stop fact-checking. Problems in
communication arise when people lack self-awareness.
My
own colors are Red and Blue and a bit of Yellow. No Green to speak of. Sorry.”
An
article edited by Lotten Kalenius from the Swedish Skeptics Association (VoF) on
April 15, 2024 is titled One of Sweden’s biggest scientific bluffs which
discusses the book and Thomas Erikson. It has a section titled Is Erikson an authority
in behavioural science? When he was looked up:
“So,
we used Ladok, the register of everyone who has studied at Swedish colleges and
university, to see if we could find the courses taken by Erikson. There was
no-one with his name and birthdate registered. In fact, Erikson’s professional
background is in sales, first for the bank Nordea and then running his own
business training salespeople. It is most likely that his only educational
background is, at best, the Swedish equivalent of a high school diploma.”
Lotten
noted that Erikson was named Fraudster of the Year in 2018 by VoF and also added:
“He
has as much right as my poodle to call himself a behavioural scientist.”
Erikson
is quite glib as illustrated in a 12-minute YouTube video titled Red
behavioural profile DISC | Dominant people | Surrounded by Idiots. But what he mostly
says is Ipse Dixit – dogmatic expressions of opinion asserted without proof. I
will ignore all of it. Think carefully before you accept any of it.
A
jester statue was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons.
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