Introvert vs extrovert ted talk
TED Talk: Leadership needs introverts and extroverts too Introverts and ExtrovertsTED Talk: Leadership needs introverts and extroverts too TED Talk: Leadership needs introverts and extroverts too
Jorrun Liston: Welcome everyone! We are recording this session and will post on naccuTV soon.
Jorrun Liston: Please feel free to unmute and share. Or you can type your comments here if that’s more comfortable.
Jorrun Liston: What do introverts bring to the team?
Jorrun Liston: Or you can type your comments here if that’s more comfortable.
Jorrun Liston: What do extroverts bring to the team?
Jorrun Liston: What can a manager do to bring everyone in?
John Ogle: Seeking out input everyone in the room
Sheryl Puckett: Encouragement and praise for great ideas
Jan Montoya: what about sending meeting agenda’s ahead of time for all team members to review so that when you call on them they are prepared so they are not so uncomfortable.
Jorrun Liston: Realize that people need some down time. I try to build it into our conference schedule, even if just 15 minutes to step away.
Sheryl Puckett: Making sure that everyone knows that their opinion is important.
Audra Forsberg: I love that grocery shopping time!
Jorrun Liston: What can a manager do to keep the extroverts taking over a meeting?
Kim Pfeffer [she|her]: Depends on the situation
Audra Forsberg: I am an introvert
Sheryl Puckett: Agree Kim – depends
Kim Pfeffer [she|her]: I think I can be an extrovert in a small group but an introvert in a large group.
Jorrun Liston: To raise your hand, click on the Reactions button at the bottom of your page. You can turn off/on Raise Hand, Yes and No.
John Ogle: Introverts can develop the skill of asking questions of others, which encourages others to talk while you can focus on listening to them.
Jorrun Liston: What can you as an introvert do to be heard?
Melissa Neidigh: be prepared, I usually spend time gathering thoughts prior to a meeting so I am ready to participate with confidence
Jorrun Liston: Is being an introvert seen as a weakness?
Jorrun Liston: How can we educate others about the importance of opening up the space, recognizing everyone as being a contributor to the team?
John Ogle: Some of that can be done outside of meetings by encouraging individuals that their input matters.
Jorrun Liston: Send out meeting agenda ahead of time. Advocating for others.
Jorrun Liston: Encourage others. Ask them to chair an initiative.
Jorrun Liston: Find a mentor. You can learn from each other.
John Ogle: Great advice, Audra.
Jorrun Liston: Find an extrovert to walk around a reception with, or be in a meeting with to help guide you through.
Jorrun Liston: What are your introvert survival tips?
Sheryl Puckett: When we are in person, as always, reach out to some of us veterans to walk around the exhibit hall with you.
Katleen Saturne: May I recommend reading Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
Audra Forsberg: Katleen, that’s a great one!
Jorrun Liston: Thank you Katleen!
Audra Forsberg: Introverts unite. We can have a meeting at the conference where we all just relax in silence. 🙂
Amy Slaughter: That would be great Audra
Sheryl Puckett: Thank you, Jessica, great job!
Audra Forsberg: Thank you Jessica!
Deborah Nightingale: thank you Jessica! very insightful and great tips for both the extro & intro
Debbie Deyulia: Thanks Jessica!!
Kim Pfeffer [she|her]: Thank You All – sorry I was in and out.
Jan Montoya: Thanks this was great!
Lauri MacLeod – University of Waterloo: Thank you!
Jessica Bender: Thanks everyone!
Randy Willis: Thank you!
Amy Slaughter: Thanks Jessica and Jorrun. I needed this pep talk.
Katleen Saturne: Thank you all. A very happy holiday
Jorrun Liston: Special thanks to Jessica Bender from Palm Beach State College for sharing these thoughtful insights, and to all of you for participating. Great conversation!
10 TED Talks for introverts
There’s never been a better time to be an introvert. In the last few years, an explosion of information has positioned introversion not as some kind of undesirable condition to be overcome, but as a personality dimension that has both benefits and drawbacks.
[ Read our related article, Networking for introverts: 6 practical tips. ]
Today’s introverts can find best-selling books praising the power of introverts, better understanding of the dimensions of introversion and extroversion, new psychological and neuroscientific research into the topic, and more open discussions of the issues.
There are also some valuable TED Talks – every last one given by an introvert – worth a view, both for introverts themselves and those that work with them.
Whether you’re an introvert or a leader who wants to harness the power of introverts, dig in:
Speaker: Susan Cain
The grand dame of introversion clearly tapped into an unmet need with her 2013 book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can't Stop Talking.” It sold more than 2 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages. Cain, who since launched The Quiet Leadership Institute, sheds light on the talents and abilities introverts like her offer because of their particular dispositions rather than despite them.
Cain opens her talk with the story that highlights the pain of being an introverted child, one of the many situations over the course of her life in which she felt pressure to pass as an extrovert. But she argues, based on intensive research, that forcing introverts to “fit in,” we deprive them – and the world – of introvert power.
“When it comes to creativity and to leadership,” she says, “we need introverts doing what they do best.” Cain guides the audience through what introversion is and isn’t, its benefits, and how we might remove the bias that works against them in schools, in workplaces, and beyond.
Speaker: Brian Little
An internationally acclaimed scholar and speaker in the field of personality and motivational psychology, Brian Little outlined his personality theories in the book Me, Myself and Us. More importantly, Little is a self-described “extreme introvert” – one whose projects of passion take us out of his ingrained personality style.
In his talk, Little describes the five big personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Little’s explanation of introverts and extroverts is a straightforward one that can help anyone better understand the differences; each one is simply trying to maintain an optimal level of stimulation.
Each personality trait is part nature and part nurture, but – and this is the crux of Little’s talk – only part of what makes us us. We are more than the sum of our traits, and our personalities are more malleable than we assume. Tune in for an exploration and explanation of the moments in which we transcend our personalities, as well as a warning about the dangers of acting “protractedly out of character.”
Speaker: Linus Torvalds
There’s no real shortage of introverted heroes in the tech world, but Linus Torvalds is a particularly interesting one. He’s not a visionary, he’ll tell you; he’s an engineer. Yet he became the chief architect of a software revolution built on collaboration.
That wasn’t his intent, Torvalds tells interviewer Chris Anderson in this 2016 TED Talk. He was simply seeking a way to invite comments on his code. And with Git, the version control system for tracking changes in computer files and coordinating work on those files among multiple people, he invented a way to do so that’s, in a way, an introvert’s dream.
“I'm not a people person; it's not something I'm particularly proud of, but it's part of me,” he says. “And one of the things I really like about open source is it really allows different people to work together. We don't have to like each other – and sometimes we really don't like each other.” Torvalds discusses the personality traits that paved the way for his particular approach to programming, work, and life, as well as those he’ll never possess. “You need to have the people-people, the communicators, the warm and friendly people who like really want to hug you and get you into the community,” he says. “But that's not everybody. And that's not me.”
Speaker: Shonda Rhimes
Here we have an introvert who has conquered a completely different industry: Hollywood. Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, may not show the signs of introversion publicly. In private, however, she struggled with those duties that challenged her introverted nature.
She hired a publicist in order to avoid public appearances. She suffered panic attacks before media interviews. As she wrote recently in her book, “My marrow is introvert marrow.”
But when her sister pointed out over Thanksgiving dinner that Rhimes never said “yes” to anything, she took it as a challenge. For a year, she committed to saying, “yes” to everything that scared her. She spoke in public. She went on live TV. She took a stab at acting. In this talk, she explains how saying yes took the fear out of those situations. Just as importantly, she tells the audience how saying yes to her children (rather than to more of the writing work where she feels at ease and alive) changed her life.
Speaker: Angela Hucles
Retired pro soccer player and two-time Olympic gold medalist Angela Hucles says that athletes train to be their best by tapping into their "inner-introvert" and finding moments to lead. At this TEDx event in Bend, Oregon, Hucles says that the fact that just four percent of leaders identify as introverts (who make up half the population) is short-sighted.
Introverts, she argues, bring a singular contribution to teams – sports teams, business teams, family teams – is critical to success.
Now the president of the Women's Sports Foundation, Hucles says winning teams need energy, enthusiasm, and excitement complemented by groundedness, the ability the listen, and strength in calmness. Hucles lays out the conditions to make that happen.
Subscribe to our newsletter.
Keep up with the latest advice and insights from CIOs and IT leaders.
is it so bad to sit at home and not talk to anyone
At school, children are taught to do tasks in a group, at the university they have to speak and interact with people a lot, and team skills are highly valued at work. For extroverts, all this is completely normal, while for introverts it is stress and an extra reason for alarm. However, according to Susan Cain, author of Introverts.
How to use the features of your character”, every third person you know is an introvert. In theory, this should tell us that striving for solitude is completely normal and natural, but for some reason society does not think so. We collected the main conclusions from the speech of Susan Cain, in which she talks about the advantages of introverts and why you should not be ashamed of your unwillingness to be a super communicative person. Prejudice against introverts is deeply ingrained in our society: a child who prefers to play alone is sometimes judged by peers, and adults push him to be more social. As a result, from an early age we are forced to play by the rules of the world around us, which, oddly enough, is tailored more for extroverts: what are some universities with a large crowd of people or work offices with the open space format worth?0008 .
On the one hand, communication skills are certainly very important throughout life and are worth acquiring if only for the sake of not being left with nothing; on the other hand, is it worth overcoming yourself every time, renouncing the lifestyle that is close to you in order to gain more contacts, become the soul of absolutely any company, or choose noisy parties instead of a calm, quiet dinner with friends? Not really. By acting in a way that is not natural for us, we risk forgetting who we really are and building our lives around activities and people that are completely not close to us. However, introverts, even if mechanically, still often continue to leave their comfort zone where it is not necessary to do this, but all because of certain stereotypes.
What's wrong with introverts
The first reason people don't understand how introverts survive is that we don't fully understand how introversion actually works. Some mistakenly believe that it is no different from shyness, although these two traits reflect fundamentally different states of the human psyche.
Shyness is the fear of social judgment, while introversion is how we respond to cues from our environment, including interacting with people. Back at 19In the 1920s, Carl Jung said that an introvert is a person who draws energy from within himself, and not from interacting with others. He also said that in fact there are no pure introverts and extroverts, otherwise they would have gone crazy a long time ago, so there is still such a thing as ambiversion, something between extraversion and introversion. But, one way or another, many of us, albeit to varying degrees, belong to one of two types.
Extroverts need a lot of stimuli to feel good, while introverts, on the contrary, are more comfortable being alone
The study also showed that, for example, in the process of communication, as well as in moments of winning, extroverts produce more of the hormone dopamine than introverts. At the same time, the desire to limit contacts does not mean that the introvert will refuse to be part of the team or will not want to do his job, rather, on the contrary: he will approach more responsibly what is entrusted to him, pay attention to important details and complete the task better than the extrovert, which is often (but by no means always) sprayed into several cases at the same time.
The second reason why introverts are misunderstood and sometimes even condemned is the belief that creativity and productivity are only possible when jobs are tightly clustered. Accordingly, people who find it easier to find solutions and offer ideas when they are calm and alone are perceived as outcasts, and introverted children also become difficult to educate, although they simply do not want to work in a group.
Many teachers describe the ideal student as an extrovert, which is ironic since introverts tend to be more well-read and get better grades. One study confirmed that the prefrontal cortex of introverts is thicker than that of extroverts, indicating depth of thought and a tendency to plan.
According to Susan Cain, introverts also rarely become leaders, which is not good, because due to the desire to plan work and life in general, they are less impulsive, and therefore not prone to thoughtless risk taking and making emotional decisions. A study by Professor Adam Grant of the Wharton Business School showed that introverts can be good leaders for active and independent workers who do not need to be inspired or motivated to take initiative.
An introvert leader can listen carefully and delegate complex interesting tasks to other employees, while an extrovert is more likely to “suffocate” with his presence, activity and unintentional inspiration with his own ideas.
Or are they okay?
The fact that introverts make up 30-50% of the population already suggests that being less social than other people is not at all ashamed, because it does not affect whether you will be successful in your career or personal life. Mark Zuckerberg, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Buffett and many other world famous personalities positioned themselves as introverts, and Bill Gates once said in one of his public speeches: "If you are smart, you can find advantages in your introversion."
Charles Darwin spent a lot of time alone in the woods and refused dinner parties with enviable regularity, and Theodor Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss, a children's book author and cartoonist, invented many of his characters while sitting in the backyard of his house in California.
He also avoided meeting children who read his books, because he was afraid that he would not live up to their expectations and would turn out to be too ordinary, reserved person for them.
Edition The Hustle interviewed introverts in leadership positions and here is how these people describe their introversion:
"An introvert is someone who prefers isolation... Someone who isn't necessarily asocial, but someone who excels at internal work processes" - David Acosta, co-founder of Rebel PR
"I feel refreshed and rejuvenated when I can spend time in silence on a regular basis" - Dan Purcell, co-founder of Ever in Touch
"Being an introvert doesn't mean you're a loser or socially awkward person, it just means you need to be alone when others want to be with people." - Kevin Pasko, co-founder of Nested Naturals
In other words, introversion is not a signal that a person lacks social skills; it is likely that he has them in abundance, but he simply does not want to interact with others as often as extroverts do.
Of course, you need to cooperate, otherwise the union of introvert Steve Wozniak and extrovert Steve Jobs would not have arisen, but being alone is very valuable in itself, and for some it is also vital.
3 tips for introverts and more
Stop forcing group work on people
Effective work can only be achieved by creating an easy and relaxed communication style for each employee. Meeting and sharing ideas, solutions is good for both extroverts and introverts, but by putting too much emphasis on working together, we forget to pay due attention to personal life, freedom and independence. Similarly in schools, we must teach children to communicate and solve problems together, but in the same way we must teach them to think for themselves.
Be alone with nature
Of course, you don't need to renounce social life and start building yourself a hut in the depths of the forest, but it won't be superfluous to periodically disconnect from the outside world in order to be alone with yourself, your feelings and thoughts.
Introverts, who are forced to be more social, need this as much as extroverts: it can be beneficial for any person to pay attention exclusively to themselves and understand what is going on in their own head.
Don't forget to open up to the world
As a rule, others more or less understand what an extrovert is thinking, dreaming about and striving for, but an introvert lives a completely different life, and often people do not know what is happening to him. Although at this moment an introvert can come up with a completely brilliant idea that will change the world or at least make it easier to work in your company. Therefore, periodically, not necessarily on an ongoing basis, share with people what you like, your decisions and suggestions - because the world needs both the activity of extroverts and the thoughtfulness of introverts equally.
how to silence yourself in a world where everyone talks - T&P
In a culture where the ability to be charming and admired by people is almost the main social virtue, being an introvert can be difficult - if not embarrassing.
Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, argues with this thesis. Theories and Practices publishes a transcript of her TED talk. When it comes to creativity and leadership, we need introverts who do what they do best. 30-50% of the population are introverts. This is every second or third of your acquaintances. All of them are treated with a bias that is deeply rooted in our society. We learn this attitude towards them from childhood, although we cannot even say what our mistake is.
To see this bias clearly, you need to understand what introversion is. This is not shyness. Shyness is the fear of social condemnation. Introversion is a feature of how a person reacts to signals from the external environment, including communication with people. Extroverts need a lot of stimuli, while introverts feel best and work most energetic in quiet, quiet environments. Not always - everything is relative - but in most cases. Therefore, in order to maximize our talents, each of us must be in the most optimal environment for ourselves.
But here we encounter a stereotype. Our most important institutions—schools and workplaces—are designed primarily for extroverts and their need for more stimuli. There is also a belief system now that I call the new groupthink, which holds that creativity and productivity are only possible when jobs are tightly clustered.
“Loneliness is the main component of creativity. For example, Darwin liked to walk alone in the woods and firmly refused invitations to dinner parties.0009
Imagine an ordinary modern classroom. When I was in school, we sat in rows. The desks stood in rows, like this, and we did most of the tasks ourselves. But in modern classrooms, desks stand in groups - 4, 5, 6, 7 students sit facing each other and do countless group tasks. Even in mathematics lessons or essays, where there should be room for their own thoughts, children should behave like members of a commission. Children who prefer to leave the classroom or work alone are often perceived as outcasts, or even worse, difficult to educate.
Most teachers describe the ideal student as an extrovert and not an introvert, despite the fact that introverts are better learners and more well-read, which is confirmed by various studies.
The same applies to workplaces. Most of us work in open-plan spaces, without walls, constantly subjected to clamor and surveillance from colleagues. In the area of leadership - introverts rarely get leadership positions, despite the fact that they are usually thorough and not prone to excessive risk - which today needs to be strongly supported. Interesting research by Adam Grant of the Wharton School of Business has shown that introverted leaders often achieve better results than extroverted leaders because they are more able to let the ideas of their subordinates come to fruition, while an extrovert may, unintentionally, get excited about his ideas and twist everything for themselves, without giving free play to the proposals of others.
Some of the most influential leaders were introverts.
For example: Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Gandhi - they all described themselves as soft and even shy people. All of them came to the center of public attention despite their personal motives. This turned out to be especially attractive, since they rose to power not because they were drawn to command, and not because they were admired, but because they saw no other choice and were forced to act for a just cause.
"As you know, teams are influenced by the most representative or charming person present, despite the fact that the relationship between eloquence and the value of ideas is zero"
Loneliness is the main component of creativity. For example, Darwin liked to walk alone in the woods and firmly refused invitations to dinner parties. Theodor Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss, imagined many of his wonderful characters while sitting alone in the belfry in his backyard in La Jolla, California. He was even afraid of meeting children who read his books.
He thought that the children imagined him as a sort of good-natured Santa Claus, and did not want to disappoint them with his reserved appearance. Steve Wozniak invented the first Apple computer while sitting alone in his office at Hewlett-Packard, where he worked at the time. According to him, he would never have been able to become such an expert if he had not been such an introvert and a homebody in his youth.
Of course, we should not stop working together - the same Steve Wozniak teamed up with Steve Jobs in order to found Apple Computer, but being alone is very valuable and for some it is absolutely necessary. People have known for centuries the extraordinary power of solitude. Only recently, oddly enough, we forget about it. In most of the known religions of the world, there are seekers of truth - Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad - they alone go to deserted, wild places, where they experience deep revelations and insights, which they then transmit to the peoples. Without nature, there are no insights.
No wonder modern psychology interprets the same thing. It turns out that it is impossible to be in a society of people without imitating, instinctively, the opinion of the majority. You will be drawn to misbehaving even in purely personal affections and inclinations, and you will begin to copy others without even realizing it.
Collectives are known to be influenced by the most representative or charming person present, despite the fact that the relationship between eloquence and the value of ideas is zero. Maybe you go after the leader with the best plan, maybe you don't. Are you willing to take a chance? It would be better for everyone to disperse, think with their minds away from the influence of the group, and then get together and discuss ideas together in a calm environment, and then draw conclusions.
“But then the 20th century came and we had a new culture that historians have called “personality culture.” The main change was the transition from an agricultural economy to a world of big business.
”
If everything is so logical, why are we still wrong? Why are our schools and workplaces the way they are? Why do we judge introverts when they seek to be alone for a while? One answer can be drawn from the depths of our history. Western societies, especially the United States, have always preferred the acting man to the thoughtful man, especially the thoughtful man. At the beginning of American history, the character of the leader was given great importance, and we valued people with a rich inner world and high morals. If we look at the personal growth books of the time, we see titles like, "Character is the greatest thing in the world." These books set the example of people like Abraham Lincoln, who was famous for his modesty and unpretentiousness. Ralph Waldo Emerson called him "A man who does not take offense at the superiority of others."
But then came the 20th century, and we had a new culture that historians called "personality culture." The main change was the transition from the agricultural economy to the world of big business.
