This is a thought provoking article, based around a new book by Susan Cain titled ‘Quiet’ and with a sub-title that summarises its theme- ‘The Power of Introverts in a world that can’t stop talking’. The article and the book are unashamedly biased in favour of those of us who are introverts, arguing that such bias is necessary to counter the normal prejudice in favour of extravert behaviour.
The message is that organisations are wasting talent. They allow their cultures to develop in such a way that they give more weight to the opinions of extraverts, promote those with extravert tendencies and favour processes that allow such people to shine. Brainstorming is quoted as a clear example of the latter; introverts prefer to process data and reflect on their own; they do not like to shout out multiple ideas in the company of others.
The author of the book argues that introvert tendencies are innate rather than learned and can be seen at an early age. One surprising outcome of research is that it is the quiet babies who become extravert – they need extra stimulation to become involved - and vice versa for introverts. She also argues that parents try too hard to push children towards extraversion, because this is how society values people from an early age and how the education system in most countries is slanted. (As I read this I thought to myself that this includes the management education system with its focus on group work and the tendency to judge participants by their contribution to discussions)
The article then moves on to show examples of introverts who have achieved success by working alone and includes in that list Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs’ original partner at Apple. I thought that this was an unfortunate example to choose because, though Wozniak was undoubtedly successful, his more illustrious and clearly extravert partner was many times more so. There is a reference to Jobs later in the article but the career of this man – the ultimate extravert who favoured personal interaction as a management process - is surely evidence that this approach is more likely to achieve outstanding results over the long term. Maybe the introvert can make the scientific breakthrough but the extravert is needed to tell the world about it.
This selective use of evidence tends to devalue some of the arguments. When commenting on leadership, it suggests that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are introverts - which is credible – but then claims that Richard Branson might be the same. A more convincing argument is that such people need extravert partners to succeed and quotes Jobs and Wozniak as an example, though it fails to mention that they could not work together over the long term.
There is an interesting argument that the modern tendency towards communication by email and text is tilting the balance back to the introvert; so is the increasingly common practice of working at home. It is also suggested that it is easier for introverts to ‘fake’ extravert behaviour than for extraverts to go the other way. Therefore there may be an increasing trend for introverts to be more successful and to be more recognised in the modern business environment.
The article ends with a questionnaire that allows you to test your own tendencies. This brought back memories of the Eysenck personality test - which was all the rage in the seventies before Myers Briggs came along - ranking on the dimensions of extraversion and stability. This questionnaire is less threatening and probably less scientifically validated but it is a useful – though rather superficial – guide to preferences.
I would recommend that the article as a good read and as food for thought. I am not sure I would recommend the complete book unless you have a special interest in the topic.
Read the article
http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/1124091/rise-introvert
Buy the book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quiet-power-introverts-world-talking/dp/0670916757/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318505677&sr=1-1
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