A few years ago, researcher Susan Cain quietly raised a hand at the back of a crowded, extroverted corporate and academic culture and created, for some among us, a veritable raucous permission to continue to be our introverted selves. Cain explains that introversion and extroversion relate to our response to stimulation and says that, in general, introverts feel “at their most alive and their most switched-on and their most capable when they are in quieter, more low-key environments,” and that, regardless of whether we are wired to the extroverted side or the introverted side, the key to our being most successful is to put ourselves in the “zone of stimulation” that is right for us.
We invite you to join us in listening to TED Radio Hour’s “How Do Introverts Share Ideas?” featuring Cain, and then come together next Thursday, September 27, to share our thoughts around it.
You can check out the podcast here:
For some further reading and listening ahead of time, check out Cain’s TED Talk, “The Power of Introverts:”
And you may also enjoy this short interview with Cain about her book:
Quiet Please: Unleashing the Power of Introverts at NPR Books
Photo by Andrew E. Larsen, Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Will Willigham.
Bethany R. says
I love this talk. It can only help to understand each other and ourselves more clearly. In various relationships and spheres it’s worth considering: Where do you thrive? What can I do to support that?