The author, Thomas Erikson, is a Swedish lecturer who is known all over the world. He believes that communication is key between people -and don't we all agree on that! Sometimes, we have to deal with others as if they came from another planet or if we were the alien in the crowd when it comes to behavior, thoughts, and actions. Erikson sums it up with: "The most important lesson that you can walk away with is that the idiots who surround you are, in fact, not idiots at all. Instead, they are individuals worthy of respect, understanding, and being valued". And that's kind of true. Because we tend to understand and handle others from our own perspectives and experiences. And the Dominance Influence Stability Compliance assessment -DICS- of an individual determines how he/she operates. If those letters seem a bit complex for you to remember, you can revert to the colors Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue.
This book is an easy and enjoyable read. It's filled with stories and anecdotes to back up the writer's allegations. I am not sure why I have put it off for that long. Now that I have listened to it during my long commutes, let me tell you what it taught me:
- bringing all people to 4 main types might be an oversimplification of human psychology, but it does shed some light on what makes people tick ;
- listening more and speaking less have always been necessary and we need to do more of it ;
- while Yellow is a sparkling extrovert who is all over the place, Blue is more of an introverted analyst, Red is the natural boss character, and Green is the kind laid-back person who wants to help everybody ;
- each type has strengths and weak points and decoding their demeanor can get a team to work well together and achieve much better results ;
- most people are a mix of these standard 4 types. According to Erikson, only 5% represent one solid color, 80% are commonly two-colored, and 15% are a mix of all 3 colors. I for one know for sure that I am not and cannot be Yellow. But I do have traits of the other types 🤷🏻♀️
This exposé is not backed up by sources and proven communication methods. The DISC model to assess a personality is not considered by a lot of psychologists as an accurate tool. However, the tone is at times funny and I am sure each one of us has met or sometimes heard of one of the figures in the illustrations. Give it a read, or a listen, and let me know what you think!
