Thomas Erikson is a Swedish behavioral expert, lecturer, and author. Erikson is best known as the author of Surrounded by Idiots, which has sold over three million copies worldwide and has been translated into 40 languages. Following the success of this work, Erikson wrote Surrounded by Psychopaths and Surrounded by Bad Bosses, which are also self-help books centered around the DISC personality system.

Lecturing and consulting for different companies motivated Erikson to write Surrounded by Idiots, as he found that people were interested in learning more about the subject but had few resources available to them. Disappointed with the lack of literature about the DISC system, Erikson decided to write his own book to explain the four major personality types. He explains, “I wrote this book because for many years in various contexts at training courses, lectures, et cetera, people always asked me, ‘Where can we read more about this system?’ Up until now, the answer has always been nowhere” (Location 3400).

Erikson’s years of experience working with groups of employees has given him insight into how different personalities tend to approach their work and the common misunderstandings that can arise between different types of people. Erikson’s work also draws upon real-life anecdotes from his time as both a corporate employee and a lecturer.