, “The power of introverts,” TED ()
Notes from Cain’s talk at TED2012:
- Introverts have gotten the message that a quiet style of being is not right
- Many introverts, like Susan Cain, adopt self-negating lifestyle choices to pass as extroverts
- But it’s everyone’s loss
- We need introverts for creativity and leadership
- Introversion is about feeling most alive and capable in quiet environments
- It’s about stimulation, not shyness (a fear of social judgment)
- Modern classrooms and workplaces promote “groupthink” as the source for creativity and productivity, instead of solitude, despite research
- Introverted leaders often deliver better outcomes than extroverts (Adam Grant research) because they let proactive employees run with their ideas
- Introversion/extroversion is a spectrum (and those in the middle are ambiverts?)
- Groups need a balance
- Solitude is a crucial ingredient to creativity and revelation
- Groups, on the other hand, tend to follow dominant or charismatic people, though there’s no correlation between being the best speaker and having the best ideas
- Western societies used to value people for character, a strong inner life and rectitude, but now it’s about personality and proving oneself
- Of course social skills are important, but introverts need to be given freedom to come up with solutions to today’s problems
- When Susan Cain’s grandfather died — he was a rabbi who read, taught and loved his people quietly for 62 years — the streets were blocked with people who came to mourn him
- We are on the brink of changing our attitudes to introversion, quiet and solitude, so,
- Stop the madness for constant group work
- Go to the wilderness and have your own revelations (get inside your own head a little more often)
- Take a good look at what’s inside your “suitcase” and why, and open it up for other people to see