I was recently given a project at work to research YouTube and TED videos around a particular topic (#winning) and I came across this great one.
Writer Susan Cain, who has a preference for introversion, speaks about the value of introverts in a world that appears to place more value and emphasis on being extroverted. And of course as a person who falls very much on the more introverted side of the spectrum I'm thinking PREACH IT SISTER!
It is 19 minutes long but if you can make it to the end, here are my main take-aways:
- Let introverts be introverts- people need to stop telling those who have a preference for introversion to "put away the books" and "be more outgoing"
- Incessant group work is not helping anyone. Yes, both introverts and extroverts need to learn how to work with other people but by forcing introverts to constantly work in groups we are going to struggle to come up with great, creative ideas- we need alone time!
- If you have a preference for introversion, it's okay! Living in a society that wants you to conform to it's extroverted standards sometimes makes it hard to remember this important fact but the truth is, introverts really do have a lot to offer the world.
I hold a certain reservation about the whole introverted extroverted categorisation. It feels like in a world full where debilitating labels are dished out like soup at a soup kitchen we don't need any more. I figure people should just be who (whom?) ever they are/want to be, without feeling the need to fall on any one side of a fence. unless they are the sort of people who don't like ice cream, in the case they should heavily reconsider life choices :P
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your perspective Sam, I agree that people shouldn't feel the need to categorise themselves (or be categorised by others) as introverted or extroverted; but personally I have always found it comforting to know that the reason I perhaps don’t want to go out or feel exhausted after socialising isn’t because I’m a freak but just because I have more of an introverted personality, so I suppose I find the label more empowering than debilitating. And I definitely agree that people who ‘don’t like’ ice cream have some serious reconsidering to do :)
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