Publisher’s write-up:
‘Our lives are driven by a
fact that most of us can't name and don't understand. It defines who our
friends and lovers are, which careers we choose, and whether we blush when
we're embarrassed.
That fact is whether we're an
introvert or an extrovert.
The most fundamental dimension
of personality, at least a third of us are introverts, and yet shyness,
sensitivity and seriousness are often seen as a negative. Some of the world's
most talented people are introverts - without them we wouldn't have the Apple computer,
the theory of relativity and Van Gogh's sunflowers. In Quiet, Susan Cain shows
how society misunderstands and undervalues introverts while giving them the
tools to better understand themselves and take full advantage of their
strengths.’
What if everyone in the world had
the same personality? I believe that would make the human race a lot less
interesting, however, our societies do place higher importance on some
personality types than others. And one of those misunderstood personalities are
those who identify themselves as introverts, considering they are often
associated with being sad, cold, depressed, ‘not living their life’, etc.
The book is split into four parts,
the first explaining the ‘ideal extrovert’ the society tends to place an
emphasis on, the second is the causes of personality types (biology, genetics,
etc.), the third part is about how different cultures around the world view
personality types (the author assumes that her reader is an American) and
finally how to work with the introverted personality type that people have. The
book is a mix of science – to what extent are they driven by genetics quoting
from various studies and experiments; social norms – how much they influence
personality types and also several anecdotes to explain various personal
situations one might face (like a workplace situation) or social issues at
large – such as the Civil Rights movement in the United States and the 2008
Financial Crisis.
I found the book insightful as
well as useful. However, I am unsure as to how much of this is influenced by
the fact that I could relate to the book considering I identify myself as one
(and that is the assessment I receive from every personality test, including
the famous Myers-Briggs test). The book also works on dispelling a lot of myths
– that teams by default are more efficient and working alone is to be
discouraged, that extroverted managers get the best results, etc. The author also
acknowledges at the outset that no individual is a total extrovert, or a
complete introvert and people often adapt according to surroundings and thus,
has sections on how introverts could get the best out of their personality type
given the value placed extraversion.
An issue I had with the book was that
the author often indulged in what I would call ‘extrovert bashing’. She tried
to not only prove that extraversion does not have any correlation with
efficiency, performance, or competence (could have stopped there), but also tried
to assert how introverts do most of the tasks better. This seemed to go against
the initial premise of the book which emphasised the need on every personality
type.
There were a lot of interesting
points I noted, and the most interesting one I found was that babies who tend
to be highly reactive grow up to be introverts and vice versa (my perception
was quite the opposite). Something I would have been interested to know is how
much environments and circumstances influence personality types, as I have read
articles in reputed magazines such as The Economist which suggest that children
from wealthy backgrounds tend to be extroverts as their position in the society
gives them the confidence to be outspoken.
To conclude, I would say that
this is a good book, and could be insightful especially when someone close such
as a partner or a child is of an opposite personality type. On that note, I would
rate this book seven on ten.
Rating – 7/10
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