Book Review: Quiet by Susan Cain.

The window to an introverted world. Is extroversion or introversion an intrinsic characteristic or can it be developed? And what are you?

I recently read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Spot Talking. In her book Susan Cain revisits how introversion is viewed in a world that normally awards

the most extroverted people. Until I read this book, I had no idea of how to differentiate an extrovert from an introvert, and what type was I.

In my journey of personal development and self-learning, understanding how I relate and interact with others, how do I communicate is fundamental, but also acknowledging others' perspective allowed me to better emphasize with peers and friends in ways I was not able to do before.

When some of us preferred to express ourselves in writing instead of on a verbal conversation, how can we able to effectively communicate with others?

Throughout the book you will find interesting test done by psychologists, researches and professors that will give you a better perspective about what are the difference between introverts and extroverts, how they react to similar situations, and how to soothe yourself as an introvert in a world that seems to always go against the grain. Here you can find some of curious points for me:

America' Shift from a Culture of Character to a Culture of Personality

In a culture of character the most important part is how one behaved in private, the ideal being a serious, disciplined, and honorable person. However, throughout the years America has changed to adopt a culture of personality in which the focus is how others perceived you, and expected to be bold, capitative and entertaining. And one of the main questions, how did we go from a character to personality without realizing that we had sacrificed something meaningful along the way?

In my opinion, in a culture of character the values of a person should define "the advantages" of that person in society. Of course, this is a complicated matter as we define what is acceptably good or correct from what isn't, and we construct the gauge to measure someones acts, but I think for the purpose of this article I will use this example: I consider that a person that is kind towards others should be recognized and praised by society even more than a person that has a CEO title.

As many articles from HBS profess, leaders have to act confidently and make decisions in the face of incomplete information, everybody know how competitive Ivy League schools are in the US, so can you became a good leader with a milder character? Can a leader be kind and a great CEO? Or maybe the answer is to be kind, but not always be nice as a 2014 HBR article said. Can you be a CEO being an introvert?

And the answer is absolutely! In fact, if you are an introvert and you would like to be a CEO, this Washington Post article is for you: Introverts tend to be better CEOs

The "Abilene paradox" anecdote

Have you ever agreed to something just because the group agrees to it although you thought it was wrong or you just were not very interested on it?

That's called the Abilene Paradox; which refers to a situation when a group makes a collective decision that is counter to the thoughts and feelings of its individual members.

Let's assume you lead a group of people, do you think that the majority of the decisions are being taken based on the Abilene Paradox? Are you creating an environment where your employees introverts and extroverts can speak up and share their honest opinion?

Sometimes creating that environment means you are the one asking for clarifying questions, not them. Are leaders just feeding their egos with yes sayers instead of running institutions? And if so, should they be called leaders?.

We tend to value quick and assertive answers over those quiet, slow decision-making ones. Have you ever compared both processes independently and measure the pros and cons of each of them? As Susan mentioned on her book, introverts are more interested in listening and gathering information than in asserting their opinion or dominating a conversation, and sometimes we may not be creating the appropriate spaces for them to voice their true opinion. If this is the case we may be nurturing environments conducive to Abilene Paradox.

The importance of alone time

Personally, one of the most interesting topics in this book is how the author dives into the necessity of alone time to became extraordinary. "When you practice deliberately, you identify the tasks or knowledge that are just out of your reach