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A review by tombennett72
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
5.0
This is a brilliant book - both for introverts, and for extroverts. Genuinely interesting, and very useful for adding to the understanding of how the two types interact.
The section on Harvard Business School confirms the view I’ve formed over many years that all an MBA teaches someone is how to make a lot of noise about yourself and how to kiss arse (sorry, manage upwards). I’ve witnessed a generation of ‘highly qualified’ youngsters dropped into plum roles who clearly value speaking, and PowerPoint presentations, over thinking.
I think that the book makes the mistake of conflating ‘western’ with ‘American’ - which misses some quite big cultural differences: have you ever witnessed a small group of Americans anywhere in Europe? They are SO much louder than Europeans... but this is a minor grumble.
It’s particularly interesting at the start of 2021 to consider the section on home working and introverts - home working removes the stifling effect of teamwork. And the over-stimulation that comes from open plan office space - as an introvert myself, it makes perfect sense that open plan offices lead to stressed, less creative, workers.
I was fascinated by the premise that teamwork kills creativity - and how long ‘groups’ and ‘teams’ have been held up as some sort of ideal.
The much-touted post-COVID “end of the 5 day week in the office” could revolutionise employee effectiveness and happiness - an unlooked-for benefit but all such gains have to be good.
Also interesting was the idea that Introverted leaders are better for proactive people.
So, overall; useful, informative and thought-provoking.
The section on Harvard Business School confirms the view I’ve formed over many years that all an MBA teaches someone is how to make a lot of noise about yourself and how to kiss arse (sorry, manage upwards). I’ve witnessed a generation of ‘highly qualified’ youngsters dropped into plum roles who clearly value speaking, and PowerPoint presentations, over thinking.
I think that the book makes the mistake of conflating ‘western’ with ‘American’ - which misses some quite big cultural differences: have you ever witnessed a small group of Americans anywhere in Europe? They are SO much louder than Europeans... but this is a minor grumble.
It’s particularly interesting at the start of 2021 to consider the section on home working and introverts - home working removes the stifling effect of teamwork. And the over-stimulation that comes from open plan office space - as an introvert myself, it makes perfect sense that open plan offices lead to stressed, less creative, workers.
I was fascinated by the premise that teamwork kills creativity - and how long ‘groups’ and ‘teams’ have been held up as some sort of ideal.
The much-touted post-COVID “end of the 5 day week in the office” could revolutionise employee effectiveness and happiness - an unlooked-for benefit but all such gains have to be good.
Also interesting was the idea that Introverted leaders are better for proactive people.
So, overall; useful, informative and thought-provoking.