Quiet – The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain is an interesting book and a welcome affirmation for those of us who consider ourselves Introverts.
The book gets a bit bogged down at times with all the scientific data and supportive research, but I love what all that data and Ms. Cain says – being an Introvert is ok. And with one-third to one-half of us falling into that camp, that’s a good thing!
Yes, I’m an Introvert – even my Myers-Briggs Personality Profile confirms it – and it’s often been, and still is, a challenge to follow that natural inclination. In Quiet, Cain explains why Introverts have that struggle.
From being forced to sit in groupings or pods in the classroom, to working in open-plan offices, we’ve bought into the idea that being surrounded by others somehow makes us produce better. Yet, some of our greatest thinkers, artists and leaders did their best work in solitude.
With Chapters like The Rise of the “Mighty Likable Fellow”, The Myth of the Charismatic Leader, and Why Did Wall Street Crash and Warren Buffett Prosper?, Ms. Cain takes everything we believe about education, the workplace, and how we conduct business and turns it on its ear.
She then offers suggestions on how schools and businesses can shift the power from a primarily Extrovert-centered focus to a more balanced one between Extroverts and Introverts – and how that would ultimately benefit all of us.
To hear Susan Cain talk a little about her book, Quiet.
It’s not that we don’t like people, we just like a little quiet 🙂
A Writer's Window 
Thanks for blogging on this topic, Kim. I’m an introvert, too. I never even liked slumber parties!
Thanks for weighing in, Harriett. Slumber parties could be a nightmare – pun intended! I could do them if only 2-3 other girls, if more than that I’d start slipping into the woodwork, or at least want to. I may blog some more about being an introvert because I find it so intriguing, especially after reading the book. BTW, just got home from Rowdy Readers and we all loved the book – including your mom 🙂
OMGosh – I’m an introvert to the bone, that was forced and expected to act as an extrovert! Or is it that I am a Gemini – – – guess I can’t win, obviously always at odds with myself.
Know that feeling, Claire! But you do what the author says, we take certain other traits and strengthen them so we can operate as an Extrovert for awhile, then we need to find a away to re-energize ourselves. Maybe we should start an organization – Introverts United . . . but we’d probably not attend the meetings 🙂
OMGoodness – how funny – you’re right, we’d probably be into our Introverting Phase when it was meeting night! Thank you for lending me the book – I’m going to start it this weekend, looking to find other ‘tools’ to carry around with me as I hop back and forth between those two ‘windows’ of life.