In the fourth chapter Susan Cain continues on discussing introversion in the modern world.  Here she begins to explain the genetic make up of introverts as laid out in Jerry Kagan’s research saying that they are naturally more sensitive to their environments or have a highly reactive nervous system. Scientists say that high reactives tend to have risk factors such as being especially vulnerable to marital discord, a parent’s death, and/or abuse leading to depression, anxiety, and shyness. But they say that high reactives who enjoy good parenting can have fewer emotional problems and more social skills than their lower reactive peers.

In the fifth chapter she speaks to Dr. Carl Schwartz who says that although we can stretch our personality but only up to a point. A sizable part of our personalities are ordained by our genes. She calls it the “rubber band theory” of personality where we are like rubber bands at rest and can stretch ourselves, but only so much. Susan Cain continues and says that although we can stretch ourselves it can often be better to situate ourselves right in our comfort zone.

She says ultimately the distinction between introversion and extroversion is the preference for certain levels of stimulation then you can put yourself in the right environments that suit your personality and/or make changes in your environment to suit your needs at the time.

I can relate this to this stimulation piece. I have leaned into this in where I live over the years. I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, but then went to a tiny little town in Connecticut for high school. When I applied to colleges I was drawn to cities and came here to Washington DC. After I graduated I moved to another small town, Charlottesville, VA, and after that realized I needed to go to the biggest city possible because I felt like I didn’t have enough stimulation there and off I went to New York City. I seem to ying yang between understimulation and overstimulation, but for the introvert in me DC seems to be the right balance. What is the right stimulation level for you?
Wednesday, March 27, 2013

 
 

As I continue to review Susan Cain’s book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking” I move on to Chapter 3. Here the author begins to discuss the power of the introvert. 

She talks about how the world is moving towards more of a GroupThink mentality where businesses are focused on team work, meetings, and innovation through working together. Even schools are moving towards this model in small group learning and group projects. And even on the internet she argues that things like Facebook and Twitter also move towards GroupThink. 

She said, however, that some of the people who are the most creative and/or the best at what they do spend a lot of time alone practicing the skill set that is so masterful. She gives the example of Steve Wozniak, the creator of the first computer for Apple. Although he participated in a group with liked minded people that helped to instigate his thinking, he spent a lot of time on his own to develop it. 

She calls it Deliberate Practice where people identify the tasks or knowledge just of out their reach, strive to upgrade their performance, monitor their progress, and revise accordingly. She says that practices that do not follow this pattern actually are counterproductive as they reinforce current cognitive patterns.

She also says that the work environment they are in contributes to this creativity. A closed work environment helps. She says that “open-plan offices have been found to reduce productivity and impair memory.” By having an open environment it leads to more stimulation which can impede learning.

She also argues that group brainstorming sessions don’t work as people tend to sit back and let others do the work, one person takes over and others are forced to sit back and not contribute, and/or there is the fear of looking stupid in front of other people.

Finally she does admit that that creativity cannot be done in isolation, but needs a mix of introverts and extroverts, solitude and interaction with people, and finally an ability to have settings where people can circulate with others when they want to/need to. It did take a collaboration of Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs to create Apple.

I agree with Susan that many times my most creative moments are when I am “deliberately practicing” but it also cannot be done without any social interaction or outside ideas getting involved sometimes in order to truly create the best solution. What do you think? When are you at your most creative? Is it when you are in groups with others or on your own?

As 2013 now heads into the middle of March I have finally got back into blogging reviews about top leadership books. The one I am currently reading is called “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain. I was particularly interested in this book because I am an introvert and a business owner and often feel like I need to be more extroverted in order to go to networking events and sell business.

The first two chapters of this book, which are the focus of this blog post, begin to describe the Culture of Personality that the author says came about with the self help age in the 1930’s. It was a time where Dale Carnegie began to teach people how speak in public and sell using more extroverted means. It was a shift from a Culture of Character (from the Abraham Lincoln days) focused on the internal character to one favoring more of the external presence. 

She said almost 100 years later that culture that favors extroverts still exists and provided three examples that cater to this ideal. She gave the example of a Tony Robbins (a very well known life/business coach) event where he taught and advocated for high energy, highly interactive ways of selling and dealing with people. 

The second example was of Harvard Business School where the ideal student participated in class all the time, worked in study groups with others, and was also highly social in the evening leaving little time for down time.

The third example was evangelical church of Rick Warren, called Saddleback Church. Here again the ideal pastor/participant was highly extroverted and bringing more people in the fold.

The author claims here through her research that some of the most popular, well known institutions advocated and taught that extrovertedness is a highly desirable value and THE way to influence, sell, and bring people along to their views.

I find these three examples very powerful in showing that highly extroverted, charismatic personalities/institutions advocate for others to be that way too. As a Myers Briggs certified coach I know that each preference has value and brings different offerings to the world, but I do think that as extroverts there is often a tendency to think that extrovertedness is the best way to be. I do think in some ways I have adapted my natural preference of introvertedness in my business activities to fit this mold a bit and come home sometimes exhausted from all of the energy exerted outwards. Let’s see what the author says about the power of introverts as I continue the review in the next blog post...