Geoff’s Comments (group member since May 22, 2015)

Geoff’s comments from the The Seven Sentence Book Club group.

Today's excellent book review of "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" comes from  Rick Gibbs  of Best Work Now.

 

Many years ago, I was labeled an introvert by the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator and strongly advised to put myself “out there” and become more outgoing, the key to success and happiness.

It was painful, but I followed diligently, often encouraging others to do the same until Susan Cain’s book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking revealed another path, more true to my reserved nature.

A card-carrying introvert, Susan carefully builds her case, explaining the terms introvert and extrovert first researched by Carl Yung in the early 20th century, then describing the evolution from a “culture of character” to a “culture of personality” which led to the “extrovert ideal” that exists today.

The book is a study of famous introverts like Rosa Parks, Gandhi, Lincoln and a host of contemporary introverts that disprove the notion that leaders can only achieve greatness with high-octane charisma.

Cain suggests that teamwork does indeed have an “I” with performance enhanced by people working in solitude without brainstorming, which doesn’t produce better ideas and without open plan offices, which actually can inhibit collaboration.

Using a familiar example to illustrate the value of both styles, Cain asserts that without Steve Wozniak studying technology alone for years combined with the outgoing leadership of Steve Jobs, the Apple that we know today might not exist.

If people describe you as the silent type, if you feel anxious with people you don’t know,  or if you have languished in the shadow of a perky “people person”, Quiet is a book that you need to study carefully in your uniquely reserved way—join the revolution!