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The Surrounded by Idiots
Surrounded by Bad Bosses (And Lazy Employees): How to Stop Struggling, Start Succeeding, and Deal with Idiots at Work
Internationally bestselling author Thomas Erikson has helped changed how the world thinks about behavior using a simple 4-color behavior analysis system. In Surrounded by Bad Bosses he applies that same system to revolutionize the workplace.
Everyone has had a bad boss. You might have one right now. You might even be one. Bad bosses are a fact of the workplace, whether they’re short-tempered, unclear about expectations, or too disorganized to manage so much as a stapler. But how do you not only survive a difficult boss, but help your career thrive despite them?
By identifying your boss’s behavior profile you’ll be better able to interact with them no matter what the situation. Erikson offers example stories and concrete steps to help you thrive in any work situation.
Of course, much as we love to blame our bosses, sometimes management isn’t the problem at all. For every bad boss there is also a lazy employee, so Erikson also looks at the issue from a completely different perspective—employees themselves— and explores why some colleagues frequently underachieve, and what you can do to change this if you're the boss.
Written with Erikson's signature humor and warmth, Surrounded by Bad Bosses (And Lazy Employees) will help you deal with the most hopeless managers and employees you can imagine—and keep you entertained along the way.
Everyone has had a bad boss. You might have one right now. You might even be one. Bad bosses are a fact of the workplace, whether they’re short-tempered, unclear about expectations, or too disorganized to manage so much as a stapler. But how do you not only survive a difficult boss, but help your career thrive despite them?
By identifying your boss’s behavior profile you’ll be better able to interact with them no matter what the situation. Erikson offers example stories and concrete steps to help you thrive in any work situation.
Of course, much as we love to blame our bosses, sometimes management isn’t the problem at all. For every bad boss there is also a lazy employee, so Erikson also looks at the issue from a completely different perspective—employees themselves— and explores why some colleagues frequently underachieve, and what you can do to change this if you're the boss.
Written with Erikson's signature humor and warmth, Surrounded by Bad Bosses (And Lazy Employees) will help you deal with the most hopeless managers and employees you can imagine—and keep you entertained along the way.
400 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2018
746 people are currently reading
6327 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Erikson
33 books1,456 followersThomas Erikson is a behaviourist and the bestselling author of the Surrounded by- series about human behaviours.
The series, has been translated to close to 60 languages and has sold over 8 million copies.
His mission is to make people’s lives easier by making them more aware of themselves and help people to a better understanding of what it takes to achieve the best possible communication.
He is a highly sought-after public speaker with 120 keynotes yearly on topics such as human behaviours, self-awareness, , narcissism, and leadership.
He lives by the simple but useful quote:
You can’t change somebody else, but you can change yourself.
Thomas was writing for twenty years before finally getting published. Being an author was his dream in life, so he never gave up. Instead he tested new ideas, tweaked his writing style, learned new skills, asked professionals, worked from 03.00 in the morning for years.
No one really believed in his writing ambitions, so he had to believe in himself.
Nowadays Thomas is Sweden’s most translated author still active. Only Selma Lagerlöf and Astid Lindgren has been translated into more languages.
He has until today published twelve books – half fiction and half non-fiction – and he will continue to write as long as he breathes.
He lives on the countryside in Sweden with his wife Christina, Sweden’s biggest romance author, he runs a family business that provides online courses and master classes on all the topics he writes about in his books.
Fun fact: Thomas is a true anglophile. He is a passionate gardener, loves topiary: if he could wear tweed the full year he would. And he is s collector of old Land Rovers.
Some of them works, most of them don’t.
The series, has been translated to close to 60 languages and has sold over 8 million copies.
His mission is to make people’s lives easier by making them more aware of themselves and help people to a better understanding of what it takes to achieve the best possible communication.
He is a highly sought-after public speaker with 120 keynotes yearly on topics such as human behaviours, self-awareness, , narcissism, and leadership.
He lives by the simple but useful quote:
You can’t change somebody else, but you can change yourself.
Thomas was writing for twenty years before finally getting published. Being an author was his dream in life, so he never gave up. Instead he tested new ideas, tweaked his writing style, learned new skills, asked professionals, worked from 03.00 in the morning for years.
No one really believed in his writing ambitions, so he had to believe in himself.
Nowadays Thomas is Sweden’s most translated author still active. Only Selma Lagerlöf and Astid Lindgren has been translated into more languages.
He has until today published twelve books – half fiction and half non-fiction – and he will continue to write as long as he breathes.
He lives on the countryside in Sweden with his wife Christina, Sweden’s biggest romance author, he runs a family business that provides online courses and master classes on all the topics he writes about in his books.
Fun fact: Thomas is a true anglophile. He is a passionate gardener, loves topiary: if he could wear tweed the full year he would. And he is s collector of old Land Rovers.
Some of them works, most of them don’t.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 178 reviews
August 24, 2021
Erikson's "Surrounded by Bad Bosses..." was really interesting to me. The title caught my eye because... well, we've all had a bad boss or lazy employee in the bunch, no matter where you've worked, and I wanted to know if there were any tips on how to put up with mine. Erikson's advice was helpful in identifying what kind of employees and bosses there are based off of a color scheme (red, yellow, blue, and green) and though he explains this in more detail in another of his books (I haven't read it but he mentions this fact in this book), the information he does share is enough detail to generally identify who is who. and how to interact with them. I actually discusses a few of his points with my SO to help him with some of his office chaos! Overall, if you are looking for some leadership direction and ways to alleviate the frustration of your coworkers, this book is worth the read.
March 18, 2021
Hopelessness made me do it.
"Nie bierz wszystkiego do siebie - serio". No super, dzięki, nie wpadłabym na to.
"Nie bierz wszystkiego do siebie - serio". No super, dzięki, nie wpadłabym na to.
June 22, 2024
I falsely assumed this was going to be a workplace edition of the art of war
February 19, 2022
This book was okay. I found the discussion surrounding the disc model interesting but full of flaws. Humans are far too complex to simply place them into one of four groups. There is a lot of gray area.
December 26, 2021
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
I'm not a big fan of the standard DISC model due to it being too binary and relative, thus I also had my doubts about this book at first. But having read his earlier book "Surrounded by Idiots" I found it refreshingly different and useful so I also gave a chance to this book. I have to admit that the first 30% was a bit struggle and I started to think that it's another example of a good book followed by a series of medicore extensions. Fortunately it kept getting more and more engaging towards the end (maybe because I could relate much more with the situations from a manager's perspective). This is not a book that you should use for it's facts (due to beforementioned limitations of DISC model) but the value of the model examples is to push your thinking beyond the first rational response that comes to your mind in certain everyday situation. You do need quite extreme examples to achieve such an effect. I believe it might be especially useful for leaders with slightly less experience as they tend to rationalize people personalities and relationships when projecting execution of a strategy. At the same time leaders with less experience might not be able to get the value because they just might not have the context to relate with the situations. I believe that the strong elements of the book are a more logical view to DISC model (four colour categories divided by task-oriented VS relationship-oriented and introverted VS extraverted axis) and it's integration to situational leadership theory (Hersey-Blanchard leader-follower model) which also covers followers maturity and motivation besides personality and how to empower instead of suppressing towards the desired outcome (theory x VS theory y). I bought quite a few copies of the book for 2021 Christmas gifts to the leaders in my Team hoping that they will see the value I did and apply the new insights to improve both results and employer engagement.
The simple 3 step model for implementing any type of change:
1) Follow up
2) Follow up
3) Follow up
(overcommunication via follow-up->analyze->perservere flow)
There is a difference between incompetence and a slacker (and they should be addressed differently).
Questions to ask and key activities:
*What sort of boss do you want to be? (own mission statement and aims)
*How much of your day should be used on leadership? (reserve this, and rest of the time you can continue being a specialist if you are unable to let go)
*Styding followers for a while to identify their behavior model based on how they act in certain situations.
*Think about what attracted the employee here. (why, driving forces)
*Look at a concrete work task and try to ascertain the neccessary development level.
*Whatever you need to convey to your staff member after the analyssi - instructions, feedback, follow-up, brainstorming or whatever - you can adapt according to their colors.
*Continuously remind yourself who you are (your colors and driving forces VS your followers', avoid defaulting to gut feeling).
I'm not a big fan of the standard DISC model due to it being too binary and relative, thus I also had my doubts about this book at first. But having read his earlier book "Surrounded by Idiots" I found it refreshingly different and useful so I also gave a chance to this book. I have to admit that the first 30% was a bit struggle and I started to think that it's another example of a good book followed by a series of medicore extensions. Fortunately it kept getting more and more engaging towards the end (maybe because I could relate much more with the situations from a manager's perspective). This is not a book that you should use for it's facts (due to beforementioned limitations of DISC model) but the value of the model examples is to push your thinking beyond the first rational response that comes to your mind in certain everyday situation. You do need quite extreme examples to achieve such an effect. I believe it might be especially useful for leaders with slightly less experience as they tend to rationalize people personalities and relationships when projecting execution of a strategy. At the same time leaders with less experience might not be able to get the value because they just might not have the context to relate with the situations. I believe that the strong elements of the book are a more logical view to DISC model (four colour categories divided by task-oriented VS relationship-oriented and introverted VS extraverted axis) and it's integration to situational leadership theory (Hersey-Blanchard leader-follower model) which also covers followers maturity and motivation besides personality and how to empower instead of suppressing towards the desired outcome (theory x VS theory y). I bought quite a few copies of the book for 2021 Christmas gifts to the leaders in my Team hoping that they will see the value I did and apply the new insights to improve both results and employer engagement.
The simple 3 step model for implementing any type of change:
1) Follow up
2) Follow up
3) Follow up
(overcommunication via follow-up->analyze->perservere flow)
There is a difference between incompetence and a slacker (and they should be addressed differently).
Questions to ask and key activities:
*What sort of boss do you want to be? (own mission statement and aims)
*How much of your day should be used on leadership? (reserve this, and rest of the time you can continue being a specialist if you are unable to let go)
*Styding followers for a while to identify their behavior model based on how they act in certain situations.
*Think about what attracted the employee here. (why, driving forces)
*Look at a concrete work task and try to ascertain the neccessary development level.
*Whatever you need to convey to your staff member after the analyssi - instructions, feedback, follow-up, brainstorming or whatever - you can adapt according to their colors.
*Continuously remind yourself who you are (your colors and driving forces VS your followers', avoid defaulting to gut feeling).
January 31, 2022
"Nobody wants a grumpy boss. But you need to look at the intention behind certain comments."
This is my first Thomas Erikson book.
I didn't know what to expect but from all the hype, seeing his book everywhere and all the praise, I was curious.
Relatively with non-fiction it's always a hit or miss but I know I'm not obligated to like it or love it as sometimes with self-help or business book, not everyone agrees with the narrative.
What I would say I enjoy from this book is the study of humans.
I've always been curious nature in finding out why people act the way they do if it's DNA, manifestation etc.
Hence, Thomas explanation got me curious and understanding the concept it brings in relation to the discussion.
However, it can get quite repetitive in the book that it goes in the circle until we move on to the next chapter.
"Boss is what you are. Leader is what you do."
This is my first Thomas Erikson book.
I didn't know what to expect but from all the hype, seeing his book everywhere and all the praise, I was curious.
Relatively with non-fiction it's always a hit or miss but I know I'm not obligated to like it or love it as sometimes with self-help or business book, not everyone agrees with the narrative.
What I would say I enjoy from this book is the study of humans.
I've always been curious nature in finding out why people act the way they do if it's DNA, manifestation etc.
Hence, Thomas explanation got me curious and understanding the concept it brings in relation to the discussion.
However, it can get quite repetitive in the book that it goes in the circle until we move on to the next chapter.
"Boss is what you are. Leader is what you do."
April 11, 2021
Sięgnęłam ze względu na tytuł, z braku laku, dla swego rodzaju przeczyszczenia czytelniczych kubków smakowych między innymi pozycjami.
Oh well, czyta się nawet fajnie, lekko, potakiwałam autorowi, zgadzałam się z podnoszonymi kwestiami i... skończyłam, pamiętam niewiele. Jest to bardziej guide jak rozprawić się z komunikacyjnymi problemami w zespole, ale do tego trzeba by z kilka razy poczytać książkę i wprowadzać jej elementy w życie.
To raczej taki podręcznik do poprawienia współpracy w firmie, jeśli już.
No i przez pół książki przewija się wspaniała mądrość, żeby nie brać wszystkiego do siebie. Oh well.
Oh well, czyta się nawet fajnie, lekko, potakiwałam autorowi, zgadzałam się z podnoszonymi kwestiami i... skończyłam, pamiętam niewiele. Jest to bardziej guide jak rozprawić się z komunikacyjnymi problemami w zespole, ale do tego trzeba by z kilka razy poczytać książkę i wprowadzać jej elementy w życie.
To raczej taki podręcznik do poprawienia współpracy w firmie, jeśli już.
No i przez pół książki przewija się wspaniała mądrość, żeby nie brać wszystkiego do siebie. Oh well.
April 25, 2019
Początkowo z ciekawością podeszłam do tematu i możliwości dowiedzenia się czegoś więcej o moim stylu szefowania, jego mocnych i słabych stronach. Jednak im dalej w las tym częściej lanie tej samej wody. Dodatkowo autor uprzedza, iż większość osób to wypadkowa kilku przedstawionych typów, mimo to podchodzi do tematu zero-jedynkowo. Można by to wszystko zamknąć w interesującym artykule i wyszłoby lepiej.
September 12, 2021
3 stars.
Surrounded by Idiots remains one of the most useful NF books that I’ve ever read, I thought it was full of insight and tips that I’ve applied and have found incredibly useful. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Book 2 (Surrounded by Psychopaths), but I had that down to the fact that perhaps I’m just not very good at identifying these psychopaths in my life, and when I do I tend to just steer clear rather than try and deal with it head on (very green!), and therefore I found the tips less useful. I was hence incredibly excited when the title of the third book was revealed, as I thought it would be something very widely applicable and one I would find useful.
Unfortunately I thought that the book fell short of this expectation, while Eriksen does a wonderful job in catering the narrative to a purely workplace context, I thought it was horrendously repetitive (and very unlike his self-assessment of being a Red, I thought). There were elements that I did like, such as the splitting up between the boss perspective and the staff perspective, and the relationship between colour and drive. The latter with concrete examples of how people of different colours, but the same drive, achieve their objectives in a different way.
A lot of it was a repeat, not only of previous books but also within itself, and at some point it got a bit much. I thought it would have been better shorter, as I did find that while the books repeat the core concepts, the frequency at which they are released coincides with when I do need a nudge reminder that helps me understand people around me a little better. I will still be following the series, but maybe I’ll wait a bit the next time around, instead of getting it on pre-order like I did with this one.
Surrounded by Idiots remains one of the most useful NF books that I’ve ever read, I thought it was full of insight and tips that I’ve applied and have found incredibly useful. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Book 2 (Surrounded by Psychopaths), but I had that down to the fact that perhaps I’m just not very good at identifying these psychopaths in my life, and when I do I tend to just steer clear rather than try and deal with it head on (very green!), and therefore I found the tips less useful. I was hence incredibly excited when the title of the third book was revealed, as I thought it would be something very widely applicable and one I would find useful.
Unfortunately I thought that the book fell short of this expectation, while Eriksen does a wonderful job in catering the narrative to a purely workplace context, I thought it was horrendously repetitive (and very unlike his self-assessment of being a Red, I thought). There were elements that I did like, such as the splitting up between the boss perspective and the staff perspective, and the relationship between colour and drive. The latter with concrete examples of how people of different colours, but the same drive, achieve their objectives in a different way.
A lot of it was a repeat, not only of previous books but also within itself, and at some point it got a bit much. I thought it would have been better shorter, as I did find that while the books repeat the core concepts, the frequency at which they are released coincides with when I do need a nudge reminder that helps me understand people around me a little better. I will still be following the series, but maybe I’ll wait a bit the next time around, instead of getting it on pre-order like I did with this one.
May 1, 2019
Johtajuusoppaita on hyvä lukea, joten luin tämän. Idiootit ympärilläni -kirjan jälkeen tiesin tasan, mitä odottaa: yleistämistä, yksinkertaistamista, kärjistämistä, ylimielistä paasausta. Kehnot pomot ei pettänyt odotuksiani. En ymmärrä, miten kirjailijalla on pokkaa kirjoittaa kokonaisia kirjoja eri värityypin ihmisistä, kun hän itsekin kirjoittaa, että vain yhtä värityyppiä edustaa vain 5 prosenttia väestöstä "tilastojen mukaan" (ei käy ilmi, minkä tilastojen...) ja loput 95 % on värisekoituksia? Toisin sanoen koko jaottelu värien mukaan on aivan turha. Kirjan parasta antia ovat ne luvut, jossa kirjoittaja nojaa muuhun johtamiskirjallisuuteen ja unohtaa värit, ja kun niitä lukee, vahvistuu käsitys värimallin turhuudesta.
February 13, 2019
Een teleurstelling. Ik was laaiend enthousiast over Eriksons eerste boek "omgiven av idioter" en aangezien ik binnenkort een nieuwe job begin als team manager nam ik daarom met hoge verwachtingen dit boek ter hand. Een vergissing. Veel herhaling. Veel gebakken lucht. De auteur teert verder op het eerste boek en lijkt de inhoud gewoon wat te herkauwen, zonder veel nieuwe informatie mee te geven, laat staan concrete voorbeelden. Net die voorbeelden maakten het eerste boek zo boeiend. Ik heb me door dit boek gesleept, wachtend op het moment dat "het" toch nog zou komen, maar nee, "het" kwam niet. Een goed concept uitmelken is nooit een goed idee.
May 16, 2022
Tråkig och extrem repetitiv. Jag gillade hans två andra böcker men denna var som en kass version av de två andra. Den var också rörig, svårt att hänga med och svårt att hålla fokus.
July 14, 2022
Good book to know the people around you at work, how to talk and be boss. How to know your responsibility and communicate
August 21, 2022
Far too many behaviours and attitudes that don't get a look-in in this rather one-dimensional book.
August 8, 2024
‘Surrounded by Bad Bosses and Lazy Employees’ by Thomas Erikson is a book to help navigate and decode the world of work.
Executed with insight and humor, this book attempts to do the impossible, put your coworkers into neat
boxes. We work with introverts and after extroverts, but there are also gradations. The author uses gradations of color to differentiate even more. so if you are a introvert blue working with say an extrovert red this might be where problems come in to play. knowing this information could smooth out your work relationships.
it's awful but probably misses some nuances along the way. It can probably help some people as long as they understand this. I like the approach and the humor even if it feels simplistic in nature.
Executed with insight and humor, this book attempts to do the impossible, put your coworkers into neat
boxes. We work with introverts and after extroverts, but there are also gradations. The author uses gradations of color to differentiate even more. so if you are a introvert blue working with say an extrovert red this might be where problems come in to play. knowing this information could smooth out your work relationships.
it's awful but probably misses some nuances along the way. It can probably help some people as long as they understand this. I like the approach and the humor even if it feels simplistic in nature.
December 30, 2023
Jag tycker författaren lägger fram en bra modell för att identifiera olika typer av chefer och deras olika ledarskapsstiler. Jag önskar att det fanns ett lätt sätt att handskas med chefer och där får jag dessvärre inget tillfredsställande svar från författaren. Författaren ger visserligen bra råd i att de som är underordnade chefen har också en roll att spela i tillvaron på jobbet, något jag ska tänka mer på.
Eftersom detta är en senare bok i författarens "Omgiven av"-serien så hänvisar han ibland till sina tidigare böcker, något som kanske är värt att läsa härnäst för att få större inblick i de personlighetstyper författaren presenterar.
Eftersom detta är en senare bok i författarens "Omgiven av"-serien så hänvisar han ibland till sina tidigare böcker, något som kanske är värt att läsa härnäst för att få större inblick i de personlighetstyper författaren presenterar.
December 4, 2021
This book is split into two parts. The first half for employees and the second half for managers. I only read the first part but will revisit the second half when it is relevant to me (you are actually told by the author to stop reading if you aren’t at managerial level yet 😅). This book lead in nicely from surrounded by idiots it is really insightful thinking about personality types and communication styles in the work place. It also taps into driving forces and levels of development which was interesting! TBC
February 28, 2025
If you’re looking for leadership direction and a way to facilitate your understanding of the colleagues around you, then this is a solid read.
Erikson sets out the primary frustrations associated with management through the lens of the four personality “colours”. Whilst the colours are useful in aiding a person’s understanding of how to adapt their management style to different individuals, the book focuses too heavily on the “single colour” scenario, which can be reductive and is relatively uncommon in practice.
Erikson sets out the primary frustrations associated with management through the lens of the four personality “colours”. Whilst the colours are useful in aiding a person’s understanding of how to adapt their management style to different individuals, the book focuses too heavily on the “single colour” scenario, which can be reductive and is relatively uncommon in practice.
August 23, 2023
I've attendee a few training courses based on the models explained in this book and its fair to say that the author is considerably better than those teachers. Filled with practical advice and acknowledging the shortfalls of applying any theoretical model, this provides a good structure for any employee or manager to consider. The focus on DISC means that it is a little repetitive at times
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November 16, 2021nu vill jag bara se hur många böcker han kan klämma ut med exakt samma sak
January 17, 2023
Ciekawy audiobook o komunikacji służbowej i niesłużbowej między różnymi typami ludzi. Warto przesłuchać.
February 26, 2023
Echt non stop herhaling
July 15, 2023
Ok. Bardzo podstawowa wiedza na temat komunikacji w zespole oraz na linii pracownik-szef i na odwrót.
December 8, 2024
Pretty interesting and accessible for this type of book, if a tad repetitive. Could have probably been a 50 pages shorter, but overall some useful learnings, and told in good humour.
June 25, 2025
Not as good as the original and I got the idea pretty quickly so never finished the book. However, a good reminder of why not everyone gets on at work...
June 27, 2025
As a relatively new manager, I found this book not only very helpful but also exceptionally uplifting and inspiring.
May 31, 2025
relatable with good insight.
July 31, 2022
Really interesting & lots to take on board. This will be useful not only at work with management, but also with communicating my students, as I think you can apply a lot of the theories in that respect too.
I’m looking forward to reading the other books I have by this author too….
I’m looking forward to reading the other books I have by this author too….
October 30, 2021
Great for reflection. Many great ideas for improving communication.
July 31, 2022
An excellent book for every employee outstanding (the boss is still an employee). However, it could be cut in a half and still get the same content.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 178 reviews