Why Intelligent People Fail. Susan Cain’s ‘Quiet’ Argues for the Power of Introverts. The introverts who are the subject of Susan Cain’s new book, “Quiet,” don’t experience their inwardness in quite so self-congratulatory a way. They and others view their tendency toward solitary activity, quiet reflection and reserve as “a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology,” Cain writes. Too often denigrated and frequently overlooked in a society that’s held in thrall to an “Extrovert Ideal — the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha and comfortable in the spotlight,” Cain’s introverts are overwhelmed by the social demands thrust upon them. They’re also underwhelmed by the example set by the voluble, socially successful go-getters in their midst who “speak without thinking,” in the words of a Chinese software engineer whom Cain encounters in Cupertino, Calif., the majority Asian-American enclave that she suggests is the introversion capital of the United States.
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Feasible time managment. The Link Between Quietness And Productivity. Some of you may have tried to reach me this morning and found that I was unavailable. That’s because I was knee high in muck with my husband and some friends. We were out having what I call clamming wars, here on Cape Cod. I have to admit, my team was quite vocal everytime we scored a clam, which by my count was many. The other team raked for clams quietly in the distance. You can imagine our surprise when the quiet team hauled in considerably more clams than our team. Who would have thought? Sometimes we forget that the most productive people in an organization aren’t the ones who make the most noise. Here are some reasons I think this is so. Being quiet strengthens focus. Being quiet calms others. Being quiet conveys confidence.
Being quiet means you think before you speak. Being quiet gives you the space to dig deep. The next time you evaluate team performance, be sure to give credit where credit is due. [Image: Flickr user Benson Kua]