There’s a meme that runs quietly around the Internet (whose origin I couldn’t locate in order to properly credit) that features the raised fist, ubiquitous symbol of so many protest movements, superimposed with a bold call to action:
INTROVERTS UNITE!
Below, you’ll find the small print:
Separately, in your own homes.
It is, perhaps, our famed reticence to gather in groups that has led to the introvert’s preferences for solitude, for quiet, for one-person activities and thinking time being pushed to the margins in favor of the cultural dominance of open office plans, of widespread group collaboration and brainstorming, of spirited interaction.
In the TED Radio Hour podcast featuring Susan Cain and her famous The Power of Introverts TED talk, Cain makes the case for the loss not only to introverts but also the loss to colleagues, the community, and yes, the world, when the dominant working models favor only the working styles of our extroverted counterparts. “We need introverts doing what they do best,” Cain argues (as much as we also need extroverts doing what they do best).
Cain notes that the primary distinctive between introverted and extroverted personalities has everything to do with stimulation. Introverts, she observes, feel “most alive and switched on when in quieter, more low-key environments” while extroverts tend to thrive most in atmospheres with large amounts of external stimulation. There tends to be a bias, however, in the way our social, educational, and professional environments are structured (open floor plans, heavy emphasis on group work and collaboration, etc.). She considers it the new “Group Think,” this notion that “all creativity comes from an oddly gregarious place.”
The podcast references research that suggests that a “majority of teachers report the ideal student is extroverted” even though introverts have better report cards and and are perceived as “more knowledgeable.”
Cain does not call for a world that reverses the bias in order to punish or marginalize introverts. Instead, she encourages listeners to “look for a world that values both.” Collaboration is still needed, she explains, noting that Steve Wozniak was an introvert that worked alone in his cubicle at HP to create the Apple computer, and that he never would have become the expert that he was if he had not been “too afraid to leave his home as a child.” But to make the Apple computer successful, he still had to collaborate with Steve Jobs. History favors times of solitude that precede great revelations, she notes, and also suggests that contemporary psychological research reminds us that we cannot be in a group without mimicking the ideas of the people around us. The better model, she advises, is to have individuals work separately, “free from the distortion of group dynamics,” and then return to work as a team in a well managed process of sharing ideas.
Let’s face it: There will never be an introvert uprising. We would all think a revolution was a great idea until it was time to leave the house for the demonstration. But then we’d look back wistfully at the book on the sofa, the tea cup on the counter, and hang up our coat and hat and use the back of our raised-fist sign to mind-map some new idea before tomorrow’s team collaboration in the conference room.
***
What is your dominant personality style: introvert, extrovert, or somewhere in the middle? How do you find this affects your creativity? What kinds of environments give you the best chance for ideas to thrive? Give the podcast a listen and come on back to share your ideas with us. (We promise not to be too R-O-W-D-I-E.)
You can check out the podcast here:
For some further reading and listening, check out Cain’s TED Talk, “The Power of Introverts:”
And you may also enjoy this short interview with Cain about her book:
Quiet Please: Unleashing the Power of Introverts at NPR Books
Photo by Laurent Bartkowski, Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Will Willingham.
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L.L. Barkat says
I’m all for spirited debate (with humor always part of it and plenty of curiosity and grace mixed in), and I think this is what has led to some difficulties—it sends the signal “extravert!” when that is not, ultimately, my working or musing style.
So, I think I’ve attracted extraverts at times, and these relationships are hard, if not impossible, to sustain. And it’s not the other person’s fault; when I was younger, I would go all in to such a relationship, only to discover, much later, that something was amiss. It really can be good to “know thyself.”
Mostly, I wish that work places and classrooms provided a mix of possible environments and choices, to create the best possible outcomes for all. Not simple, for companies or teachers, but worth the effort if we’re going to get the best ideas and find the best solutions, with participation from all.
Will Willingham says
This is one of the things I most appreciate about Cain’s approach, that she is not intent on just removing all of our extrovert-favoring structures and replacing them with solo beach chairs by quiet ponds. (Though, really, where’s the argument with this? Heh.) But she is, as she says, “a world that values both.”
I’m a pretty firm believer that while many of us are firmly entrenched far to one end of the spectrum or the other, there’s also a way in which our —version is situational, and we adapt to our surroundings. To have those surroundings be more accommodating to one type than another would be refreshing.
Donna Falcone says
“Solo flights of thought”
I love that.
I’m reminded of my oldest son who imagined himself as a pitcher, and he had a lot of skill throwing the baseball. Only problem for him was that everyone would be looking at him.
And he loves playing his guitar on stage, but had to come to grips with finding a way to survive the very crowded social scene preceding and following time on stage.
There are a lot of people who’s gifts are erroneously held up as evidence that ‘an extrovert resides inside this skin.’
I think they are very brave when they fight for their gifts in spite of the challenges that poses.
I hear what LL is saying. It can be a difficult and quite unintentional mine field to navigate.
I laughed out loud at the twitter post that used the line “there will never be an introvert uprising!”
Will Willingham says
It’s interesting, Donna, that we are all over the place in terms of what kind of introvert we can be. I’m not sure if you saw the “What Kind of Introvert Are You” quiz on one of L.L.’s earlier articles on this subject. But it (and the article it came from) provides some helpful distinctions between types of introversion, and whether it’s a social anxiety vs. introspective, etc. Your son’s particular experience makes me think it might be a helpful read. That Scientific American article says this, in contrast with the traditional Big Five types:
“Jennifer Odessa Grimes defined four meanings of introversion: social, thinking, anxious, and restrained (which happens to form the positive acronym STAR). It’s possible to score high or low on either of these flavors of introversion. For instance, you could be low in social introversion by preference but not be particularly anxious in the presence of people. Or you could suffer from crippling social anxiety, but still have the desire to be highly social. Or any other combination of these four meanings of introversion.”
Donna Falcone says
I did see that quiz – it made me anxious to complete it which now, in retrospect, is hilarious to me! Needless to say, I didn’t finish it.
Thank you for pointing me back toward the article. I’ll look again. 🙂