Surrounded by Idiots
“He is an idiot.”
“Aaargh, I just can’t stand her”
“He’s too full of himself”
“He just needst to get to the finest of details. Why doesn’t he understand it is perfectly ok to be imperfect?”
“Shhhh, come here. You know what? She, the one going around the corner, she joined the team last week. Never seen her talk. What’s probably wrong with her?”
I am sure all of us have said and heard most of the above statements. We have often wondered if we are always surrounded by idiots. Some people are like poles, some get along really well. We have our choices too, don’t we.
Many of you might be familiar with the DISC profiling. DiSC is an acronym that stands for the four main personality profiles described in the DiSC model: (D)ominance, (i)nfluence, (S)teadiness and (C)onscientiousness.* The test asks people a set of questions. Based on the answers, they are categorized into the four colours or types as explained above.
The book “Surrounded by Idiots” by Thomas Erikson has taken DISC as the core and the author discusses about the four categories in depth. He has chosen to talk in terms of colors, Red (D), Yellow (I), Green (S) and Blue (C). He introduces each color and its characteristics using real-life examples.
According to a study quoted by the author in the book, 80 percent of the people possess a combination of 2 colors that dominate the way they behave. Some are dominated by three, although that is rare.
He starts with description of the color Red and introduces a them as someone dynamic and driven. This person can set goals that may seem unreachable for others and enjoys challenges. It is the competitive nature in them that keeps them going. He lists out some traits like speaking out first, no problems being blunt, can exactly say what they think, known for honesty. If a red feels the task is important enough, he will see through the end of it. If he sees no purpose, then trash is the place for it. “Quick” is synonymous with “Reds”, he says. There are many many interesting examples he quotes and as we read it, we can resonate with it, if we have it. I can definitely resonate with Reds a little and I also have a few people in mind who are definitely Red! Do you too??
Unlimited optimism, cheerfulness, enthusiasm and inspiration fits well to the color yellow. They light up the room with their presence and ensure people feel it as well. If you think yellow is dominating in your personality, you should seriously considering becoming a salesman, because yellows can be really persuasive.
Having said that, the most common category is the green. 80% people have dominating green qualities in them, as the researchers say. If you remember birthdays very well, you might be a green. Not much demands, no competiton, never kick up a fuss unnecessarily, greens are darlings most of the times. This helps them being great team players and can be the best of friends to someone.
Classify, organize, assess. Do you love maintaining excel sheets for every minute detail? Well, then you are a blue. A blue person just needs to have accuracy in every single thing he comes across. While this is a great trait at work, a blue person often misses the big picture. They are introverts and dont talk until asked for.
Reacting to different people is mostly a result of our dominant colors and the way we percieve the person at the opposite end. My takeaway from the book was a bit of self realization, a bit of food for thought, a bit of regret over past reactions amongst others. It helped me analyze my personality and also analyze what was lacking in me. One can easily develop the missing colors by practicing them. For example, by nature, I am not at all a blue person. However, at work I exhibit a very dominating blue behavior where I used to document every single detail. This helps me neutralize my red nature of not giving attention to details at all. Simple changes that we make to the way we think and percieve might introduce new shades into our lives :)
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