Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behavior and How to Effectively Communicate with Each in Business (and in Life)

by Thomas Erikson

This method is called the DISC—an acronym that stands for Dominance, Inspiration, Stability, and Compliance ability—system.

Everything you say to a person is filtered through his frames of reference, biases, and preconceived ideas.

You help other people understand you by creating a secure arena for communication—on their terms.

Knowing and understanding another person’s style of behavior and method of communication will result in more educated guesses about how a person may possibly react in various situations. This understanding will also dramatically increase your ability to get through to the person in question.

Both my core values and my attitudes affect how I choose my behavior.

The stronger your self-understanding is, the greater your probability of adapting to the people around you.

Nothing is impossible. The impossible just takes a little longer.

Reds get bored with the status quo quickly and so they change it—the people around them have no idea what will happen next. When Greens and Blues have just gotten used to the new organization and think they have finally grasped how things are supposed to work, well, a Red will have already outlined the next step.