Know Their COLOR and Influence Anyone [Surrounded by Idiots – Thomas Erikson]

In the search of a deeper understanding

of human behavior, I came across this

amazing book titled Surrounded by

Idiots: The Four Types of Human

Behavior: How to Understand Those Who

Cannot Be Understood by Thomas Ericson.

Ericson divides people into four groups:

red, yellow, green, and blue. Reds are

natural leaders who like to take charge.

They make quick decisions, focus on

results, and always want to win. They're

so competitive that they might even try

to win when playing simple games with

their six-year-old kid. Reds like to be

the boss and tell others what to do.

They tend to be straightforward and

blunt. Sometimes how intense they act

can come across as too pushy and hurt

others feelings. Yellows are inspiring.

Yellows love to talk. You hear them

before you see them as they are always

talking to everyone. Yellows are happy,

friendly, and love to cheer others on.

They want to include everyone and make

sure we're all having a good time.

They're always coming up with new,

creative, and fun ideas. However, they

don't always finish what they start.

They like thinking about ideas rather

than working on them and completing

those ideas. Greens are stable. Greens

are quiet and reliable. They're always

there for their friends and team. Greens

tend to be the calmst of the four

colors. They don't like change, loud

arguments, or surprises. This can make

it hard for them to voice their thoughts

or handle tricky situations. Greens like

routines and schedules. They want to

know what to expect each day. Blues are

analytical. Blues think carefully and

want everything to be perfect. They

notice little details that other people

might miss. Because they hate to make

mistakes, blues double-check their work

all the time. If you gave a blue a

50-page instruction manual, they'd read

every word and then ask for more just to

be sure they understood you. Blues can

struggle making decisions and seeing the

big picture because they can get lost in

the details. Here's a real life example

to understand the colors better. Imagine

you and your friends are planning a

dinner party. This is a great way to see

the four colors in action. A red is

going to quickly take over the initial

party planning. They'll rush to decide

what day the party is, what time it

starts, and then delegate the rest of

the work for the group to figure out.

They've already decided the party is

going to start Saturday afternoon at 4

p.m. It's important for them that

decisions are made quickly, and everyone

has a task to do, but they don't care

about the details, and they don't care

what day works best for you because

they've already made up their mind. Now

go take care of the rest. They'll see

you Saturday. Your yellow friend looks

like they are glowing and bubbling with

joy. They are envisioning all of the

fun, exciting, and engaging party ideas

to share with the group. It could be a

costume party or a cocktail party.

They're so excited they'll keep bringing

up different ideas of what it could be

and who should come. They want everyone

at this dinner party to have fun. And

it's only fun if everyone is involved.

They don't care if it's realistic or

not. They want this to be the best party

ever. They're so excited they've already

called the DJ to play music. You last

heard them say something about a giant

cake. You're not sure if any of this is

really going to happen or is true, but

you can feel their enthusiasm. When it

comes to planning the party, greens are

going to be the calm and balanced ones.

They'll work behind the scenes to make

sure everything runs smoothly. Greens

are happiest when there are no surprises

or last minute changes. They'll be warm

and welcoming to the guests and make

sure everyone feels at home. If no one

has stepped up, a green will make sure

there's plenty of food and drinks. Their

main goal is to make sure everyone feels

comfortable and is enjoying themselves.

They just won't be seeking any attention

and want to stay out of the spotlight.

Blues are going to be the most stressed

out by the party. They want to keep

track of all of the details and stick to

the schedule, but there's so many

unanswered questions. It's too early.

Why can't we push it back? How are we

going to know how much food to order?

What happens if someone shows up that

isn't on the list? They'll make a

checklist, a spreadsheet, and just in

case, they will look up a list of local

rules and regulations. After all, you

can never be too prepared for a party.

It's important for Blues to feel

prepared. Around this time, the red in

the room will tell your blue friend to

quit worrying and get ready. There's

still a party to enjoy, even if

everything doesn't go according to the

blue's perfect plan. You will have a

much better understanding of colors in

the following part. But do you have some

idea which color you might be? Can you

recognize which color your parents or

co-workers are? If you think you are two

different colors, like red and blue,

you're probably right. About 5% of

people are only one color. Most people

are two colors, around 80%. And the

remaining are a combination of three

different colors.

Part two, recognize and adapt. The best

way to start is to meet the person where

they are. If they're a blue, match them

with blue behavior. If they are a

yellow, act yellow. Reds, if you are

adapting your behavior to reds, be

straight to the point and don't waste

time. They like things done quickly and

conversations should be short. Instead

of boring them with a ton of details,

only tell them what they need to know

and move on. If it's too long, they

don't care. Keep it short or they won't

read it or hear it. Reds work hard. They

might be the hardest workers you've ever

seen. They care about results and aren't

afraid to work long hours. If you want

them to like you, show that you're

willing to work hard and that you care

about getting things done. Reds respect

people who put in a lot of effort like

them. Reds move fast. They want things

done as soon as possible. It doesn't

matter if you make mistakes. They care

about efficiency as much as results. To

get along with a red, move fast. Walk

fast, think fast, and get things done in

a timely manner. Pick up your speed and

tempo. Don't slow them down with

details. Just give them what they need

and get out of their way. Reds tend to

be hotheaded and get angry quickly. Be

prepared for temper tantrums. If a red

throws a tantrum or is rude, address it

right away. Say it loud and clear. This

kind of behavior is not okay. Yellows.

Adapting to yellows is about creating a

warm and friendly environment. Yellows

are their best when they are happy and

around others. If a yellow can focus on

the big picture and talk about their

visions of the future, this is when they

are at the top of their game. Encourage

yellows to explore new ideas and cutting

edge concepts. They love being early

adopters and trying things that have

never been done before. Yellows are more

focused on the latest and greatest than

if it is realistic or possible. Be

approachable, friendly, and open when

interacting with yellows. They enjoy

being around people and function best

when surrounded by others. Show interest

in them as individuals. Smile often and

use open body language. Keep in mind

that yellows respond well to flattery

and want to be well-liked and

appreciated. Have a clear plan and be

prepared to follow up when working with

yellows. They can be easily distracted.

Know your message and help them stay on

track by providing them structure with

simple lists and checklists. Offer

gentle help so yellows can turn their

ideas into action. They tend to talk

more than they work, and they may spend

more time discussing future plans than

actually pursuing them. Encourage them

to start taking concrete steps toward

their goals, but do so in a kind and

clear manner. If you need to give

critical feedback, use the right tone

and come prepared with facts to back up

your points. Be persistent and watch out

for attempts to change the subject or

avoid the issue. Greens. Greens value

security, stability, and predictability.

They may be more anxious and riskaverse

than the others, and they appreciate

peace and quiet. Here are some key

points to keep in mind when adapting to

and behaving around greens. Understand

that greens are motivated by a need for

security and may worry about potential

risks more than others. Listen to their

concerns and show empathy for their

anxieties. Help them face their fears

gradually and encourage them to move

forward despite feeling scared. Avoid

pushing them too far out of their

comfort zone too fast. Provide Greens

with clear plans and explanations of

what to expect. They feel more at ease

when they know what's going to happen

and how things will unfold. Break down

complex tasks or changes into manageable

steps. Be patient in explaining details

and answering their questions. Help them

feel prepared and informed. Be cautious

and respectful when offering criticism

or feedback to Greens. Any kind of

criticism might come across as an

attack. Have sensitive conversations in

private and reassure them that you still

like and value them as a person. Focus

on specific things they can improve

instead of general negative statements.

Take the lead in decision-m and problem

solving when working with a group of

greens. They tend to avoid

responsibility and may struggle to take

initiative. Be gentle but firm in making

necessary choices. Encourage greens to

participate and share ideas, but be

prepared to take charge if needed to

keep things moving forward. Blues. Blues

are known for their attention to detail

and focus on quality. They value facts,

logic, and careful preparation. Be

prepared with details when working with

Blues. They appreciate when you've done

your homework and can talk in depth.

Make sure you have all the necessary

information and can answer their

questions thoroughly. If you don't know

something, admit it. Don't make excuses.

Blues value honesty and accuracy. They'd

rather you say you don't know something

than make it up. Stay focused and avoid

excessive small talk when working with

Blues. Blues are there to work and

achieve results, not be social. Stick to

the facts. If you have a more outgoing

personality, like a yellow, try to have

a more professional or business-like

approach to things when working with a

blue. Present ideas and plans that are

realistic. Blues are skeptical of

optimistic or visionary concepts. They

want to know what's achievable and how

it will work in the real world.

Recognize and appreciate Blue's

commitment to quality. They take pride

in doing things right, even if it takes

more time. Avoid criticizing them for

being too slow or perfectionistic.

Instead, praise their attention to

detail and the superior results they

achieve. Show that you value quality

work as well. If you need them to work

faster, give clear deadlines and hold

them accountable. Help Blues make

decisions by providing them with facts

and data. They can sometimes get stuck

in the decision-making process because

they want to analyze. When a decision

needs to be made, guide them towards a

choice. Encourage them to trust their

instincts when not all the facts are

available. Part three. What stresses

each color? Reds. Red's number one

stressor is their self-confidence.

The fastest way to stress out a red is

to take away their power. If they can't

be in charge or make decisions, it's

like stealing their superpowers.

Remember, reds are great at working

quickly, getting results, and winning.

If you want to make a red person feel

awful, make things slow, stuck, and

inefficient. This will frustrate and

upset them. They love speed and

efficiency. If your team isn't making

progress, it will feel like a waste of

time, which stresses them out even more.

At this point, they start to look for

someone to blame for things going wrong.

Another way to cause problems for reds

is to give them easy, routine tasks.

This will bore them to death. They'll

lose focus and find something else to

do. Reds don't care about the fine

details, and they know it. That's why

they give that job for someone else to

do, like a green. Reds think they know

what's best. They want to lead the whole

project, not a small, boring part. The

final stressor that annoys reds is when

people make silly mistakes and tell them

to calm down. Nothing makes a red

angrier. People think reds are always

angry. They're not. They might be

quick-tempered, but it's not real anger.

They want to move fast and mistakes get

in their way. Reds are the number one

color that think they are surrounded by

idiots. To help manage Red's stress,

always be direct and redirect their

energy. Number one, tell a red to pull

himself together and finish the job.

Because reds love competition, they'll

take this one as a challenge, and they

always win competitions. Number two, to

make it easier for everyone around them,

have them go burn off their frustration.

Take them away from the environment they

hate. Redirect their aggression away

from their teammates or family, and let

them go do something they love. Yellow's

number one stressor is being ignored or

left out of all the fun. Remember,

yellows always love being around people.

That's where they get their energy. To

really stress out a yellow, ignore them.

Don't pay any attention to them or

include them in conversation. If you

pretend they are invisible, it'll make

them uncomfortable and uneasy. Another

way to do this is to keep yellows away

from everyone else. The worst place for

a yellow to be would be a lonely, dark,

quiet office. They'd feel like they were

in trouble if there was no one else to

talk to. They need someone to listen to

their big and exciting ideas. If there's

no one to talk to, they won't have any

fun and will be miserable. The biggest

stressor for a yellow is being

embarrassed or criticized in front of

others. Yellows care what people think

about them. They want to be well-liked.

If a yellow makes a mistake on a

project, don't tell them in front of

everyone. It'll hurt their feelings and

they'll never forget it. They get

defensive and shut down. Their bubbly

energy will disappear like all the air

was sucked from the room. To help

yellows feel better when they're

stressed, let them spend time with

people. They don't need to have a big

party, just a small get together. Being

around others gives them energy.

Encourage them to plan a fun team dinner

or game night with friends. Give them a

chance to relax and enjoy themselves

with people. If they are stressed for

too long, they'll get sad and silly.

This is where their ideas get too crazy

in order to get attention. If you know a

yellow is stressed out, let them be

around friends and have a good time.

That way, they can recharge and be back

to their happy, fun self again. Greens

feel the most stress from change and

conflict. Greens want to know what's

going to happen. They feel safe with

familiar tasks they've done before and

clear instructions. They'll be stressed

out if you tell them to do something

they've never done before. It's even

worse if it has to be perfect. This will

be extremely difficult for them. Greens

love routine and hate surprises. If you

make a choice at random or keep changing

your plans, it will bother them. One

example is telling them to work on an

important project in the morning. At

noon, tell them to stop working on that

and instead work on a new project. At

the very end of the day, tell them that

tomorrow they're going to work on a

completely different project. They'll

get frustrated, confused, and lose trust

in you. Greens don't like conflict or

rejection. Any criticism feels personal.

If you say their work isn't good enough,

and they need to start over again, it

feels like they aren't good. Bad

feedback feels like they failed as a

person. The last stressor for greens is

being the center of attention. Unlike

yellows who love attention, greens hate

it. It makes them uneasy. If you think

back to the dinner party, a green is

more likely to hide in the corner, the

kitchen, or another room. If you force

them into a large group, they'll be

stressed and want to leave. When greens

are stressed, they try to shut everyone

out. Imagine greens are just like

turtles hiding in their shells when

they're scared. Their body language will

be cold and rigid. They'll avoid you if

you are why they are stressed. If you

are looking to argue with the green,

they will hide until you just go away.

When grains are stressed, they tend to

hesitate because they're afraid of

making mistakes. They are deathly afraid

of making the wrong decision. Remember,

negative feedback and failure feels like

they are a failure. They can't tolerate

failure, so they will refuse to do

anything at all. If you want to help a

green manage their stress, let them do

nothing. Give them time, space, and

freedom to relax. If you give them as

much time as they need, they'll

naturally be able to relax and get the

job done. Anytime they feel the squeeze

of pressure, though, they will clam up

and retreat back into their turtle

shell. Blues are perfectionists who get

stressed when their careful plans are

messed up. Blues care about getting all

of the details right. If you question

their ideas or skills without a good

reason, it feels like you are personally

attacking them. They can handle

criticism if you have logic or

reasoning, but otherwise it feels like

you're trying to hurt them. Blues care

about plans and processes. To stress out

a blue, make unplanned changes to their

schedule. If you tell them you'll meet

them in 2 hours and then at the last

minute make them reschedu, this can ruin

their whole day. They won't be able to

think straight because their perfect

plan has been ruined and they can't fit

this into their schedule. It'll drive

them crazy. The number one stressor to

blues is making careless mistakes.

Because they spend so much time planning

and thinking of the perfect plan, it's

hard for blues to deal with others

making mistakes. They don't understand

why you'd act emotionally or

irrationally. Logic, facts, and clear

thinking are what count to a blue. And

if you don't work this way, it will be

confusing for them. Because to them, the

only way to work is the correct way.

Otherwise, they'll lose interest and

pick apart tiny flaws in your ideas.

When blues are under stress, they can

become overly critical and come across

as know-it-alls. To help stressed blues,

give them time and space to think. Blues

need their time and space to think. They

want to create a plan. They want to

analyze what's going on around them and

to work logic- based ways. As soon as

they have things figured out again,

they'll be back to normal with a

wellthoughtout plan. If they get stuck

thinking the worst, you might need to

give them just a little nudge to think

things through. A quick reminder that

they've handled bigger problems is

encouraging to a blue and can help them

pull out of a dark place.

Part four, what colors get along the

best and who should work together in a

group? Which colors work best together?

Should you have a team of all one color?

The best team is a mix of all colors.

Some colors work better together than

others. Some colors will naturally clash

and have issues. Here are the three key

ideas that tend to cause either conflict

or compliments between colors.

First is pace and tempo. How fast do you

work? Reds and yellows will love working

together in a fast-paced, high tempmpo

environment. They won't get bogged down

by the details. They know they have a

job to do, and the only way to do it is

fast. Do whatever it takes to make

progress. Blue and green work slower.

They'll like working together because

they take their time. Don't be surprised

if they take a moment to catch their

breath and think before acting. They're

both hesitant to rush and make a stupid

mistake. The challenge that a blue green

group will make is because they work

slower, they might find it difficult to

make quick decisions. Once they have a

plan in place, though, it will be well

planned, clearly thought out, and have

logic or reasoning to back it up. The

second is communication style. Reds and

yellows think quickly, talk quickly, and

are not afraid to verbalize their

feelings. They bring the same kind of

energy to the conversation, and that's

loud. They know what they want and they

want to motivate those around them to

join in on the great success that's

about to happen. The problem red yellow

groups have is that because they are so

talkative, they aren't very good at

listening to one another. They'll tend

to talk over one another or simply not

hear what the other person is saying.

This can lead to arguments and

misunderstandings because of this

communication barrier. Blues and greens

are quiet thinkers, but not big talkers.

They aren't going to speak up unless

they absolutely have to. You might not

even notice that they are in the room

working. It's almost like they are so

quiet they don't exist. But the second

they are comfortable with one another

and feel understood. They will calmly

share what they are thinking. They might

not say much, but under the surface they

are doing a ton of deep thinking to

solve the problem at hand. The last

group dynamic is relationship versus

task oriented. Red and blue are both

focused on getting the job done. They

care about the results and this is how

they can speak the same language. If

they were in a race, reds are driven to

win and will work fast. Blues are going

to pump the brakes on the car, but make

sure that they are going in the right

direction, following the map, and they

won't crash. Greens and yellows care

more about relationships than results.

Greens will be more relaxed and calm,

while yellows will be excited and

animated. They might not get much work

done together, but greens will give

yellows the space to talk because they

listen. Together, they'll understand

that each person is important and

interested without stepping over their

toes or forcing them to get a job done

without hearing their feelings about the

work. They are perfect compliments in

balancing each other out. Greens calm

down yellows when they have hysterical

ideas. Yellows will happily take the

lead in talking and social situations,

so greens can work in the safety of the

background. These are the color

combinations that have the most

challenges working together. If you can

avoid it, try not to put a red and a

green together. Imagine a green and a

red on a road trip together. The best

case scenario is that a red gives the

orders and a green follows them. That

way, the red can lead and the green can

follow directions. The green won't

always like it. They'll think the red is

bossy and pushing them to go too fast.

But as long as they don't have to make

any decisions, they'll be okay. Where

they can run into trouble is when a

green hesitates and a red grows

impatient. If a green has to make

decisions and drive, they'll have

problems. The red passenger will also be

upset when they miss their turn because

a green was too slow to get into the

right lane on the highway and wonder why

they weren't the one driving. The most

challenging combination is blue and

yellow. If a blue and yellow aren't

aware how their personalities work, they

will face problems immediately. Yellows

will move too fast and talk too much for

blues. They'll jump straight into a

project happy and excited and thinking

of how great it will be when it's done.

They won't read instructions. They will

ignore the manual. They won't listen to

reason. Blues won't say a word. They'll

just sit there. They'll read and

research and plan, but they won't say a

word. All they want to do is be alone

and think, but the yellow just won't

stop moving or shut up. They just talk

so much. This will just frustrate a

yellow even more because they'll feel

like the blue is shutting them out. The

blue isn't listening and not interested

in giving the yellow any of their

desperately needed attention. Both

colors can end up miserable and

exhausted.

Conclusion. We've explored the fourcolor

framework and learned how to work and

understand other people better. I hope

you're feeling empowered and less

surrounded by idiots. And remember, this

is just a simple framework to understand

people. Many people criticize this book

for putting people into such small

boxes. They think it's an

oversimplification.

I understand that every individual is

different and the author isn't denying

it. However, we also need some basic

guidelines to navigate, and that is what

the author has tried to provide. If you

ask me, his analysis was pretty

accurate. If you found this video

helpful and want to learn more about

what makes other people tick, check out

my video on How to Win Friends and

Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

Thanks for watching.