Category: 2 – BUY it! (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: A very good book. Make that very very good particularly if you are an introverted person.
Susan Cain nicely lays out many of the things about modern society that are overly extrovert focused and thus, broken.
My only issue is that Susan falls prey to her own stereotyping very often i.e. she tends to describe or refer to introverts as a shy, lonely bunch. While that may be true for the majority, it sometimes tends to discount the fact that you can possess very good social skills as an introvert. In parts, it feels a bit more autobiographical/biographical than it should be.
Top 3 learnings:
1. Introverts kick ass. No, seriously. Susan brings out a lot of evidence of the power of introverts. And a lot of it makes intuitive sense since introverts do tend to do well in roles that require reflection and serious thought.
2. When you build, manage teams and organize gatherings, events, meetings and offsites – make allowances for both the introverts and the extroverts. As a team leader, make sure introverts have enough non group time. And as an offsite organizer, make sure there is enough personal time in the agenda for introverts to recuperate.
3. As a parent, watch for your child’s preference of introversion and extroversion. It may turn out that your child’s preferences are opposite to yours. Many extroverted parents respond to this by taking their child to a psychologist! Beware..
Marler's Observatory 