Are these famous people introverted or extraverted? (answers at end of blog) For the reclusive nerds among you, they are Mia Farrow, Michael Jordan, Steven Spielberg, and Warren Buffet). Images from Wikipedia.
Are Introverts at a disadvantage in organizational life?
For me the answer is: Often but not always. My art teacher shares how as a art student he opened the door to a class with a naked model. He quickly stammered an apology then exited to the studio next door and ended up specializing in still-lifes! Or consider the senior manager whose direct report is unfairly criticized in public by the boss, and does not think in time to mount a defense and the moment is lost. These are experiences that most introverts would recognize and identify with.
In this blog I will develop an understanding of what introversion really is and in later blogs will offer practical suggestions for introverts seeking to increase their impact, and also some helpful tips for managers and OD practitioners.
Why do introverts have a bad press?
The answer is because introverts are easily stereo-typed negatively. “He’s such an introvert! He is so shy and aloof, he has nothing to say for himself." Compare this with: "She is such an extrovert, she is such fun always talking and laughing.” How often have you heard, or used such descriptions of other people? Even academic researchers have fallen into this trap. They stress the negatives in being introverted and the see only the positive of extroversion.
From the moment we are born we live and work in a social context whether it is family, school, university or work. It can be hard being an introvert in a socialized world. Introverts suffer from a bad press but this is unfair, inaccurate and not in our collective best interests especially in an organizational context.
So what is introversion?
Introversion-extroversion was first used by Carl Jung in 1922 to describe the flow of psychological energy that characterizes a person (the flow is either primarily focused outside of the person or focused within the person). Today, Introversion-Extroversion is one of the Big Five Personality Dimensions.
The The Big Five was a break-through in personality research in the late Eighties and it is widely accepted in the scientific community that these five dimensions are essential to describe accurately a person’s personality in a way that can be measured and verified. The great advantage of the Big Five Personality Dimensions is that it gives us a common base for extensive research studies to be objectively compared and synthesized across different times and contexts.
The top 5 things we know about Introversion
1. All of us vary in our disposition to behave in an introverted way or an extroverted way. Some of us are extreme maladaptive introverts (or extroverts), others are mildly one or the other. Our introversion is more to do with how we handle excitement and stimulation rather than with sociability per se.
2. Some of us are skilled closet introverts, lively at work and zombies at home. On their favorite topics introverts can out-talk most extroverts. The trouble is extroverts can out-talk introverts on almost everything else!
3. The disposition to be introverted is largely genetic (in fact we now know that 50% of the variation in personality in any population is genetic). How that disposition manifests itself in any person is the result of interacting early-life experiences from the womb onwards, combined with life events, circumstances and personal choices, i.e. the other 50%.
4. There are identifiable differences in the brain structures of people who are clearly introverted (40%) and those who are extroverted (60%). More on this later.
5. In evolutionary terms, the disposition towards action-orientation and sociability clearly contributed to the survival of early hominid groups. The later evolution of a minority within those groups having a reflective thought-orientation clearly contributed further to the survival of the groups who ultimately became us.
Extroverts! You owe us!
In my next blog, I will summarize the scientific research on introversion-extroversion covering everything from happiness and humor to excitability, learning and career success. Then we will be ready to examine the implications for us as OD practitioners. And the implications for being seen as miserable, pessimistic, party-poopers when we truly are interesting, creative, thoughtful people.
Careful what you say in response, I am an introvert and proud of it.
Answers: All four are introverts of course. You see life is better with us than without us.
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Michael is a lifelong introvert who also works as an I/O Psychologist. He recently re-located from Dublin, Ireland to the Bay Area and is building a professional practice specializing in
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ReplyDeleteIf introverts are at a disadvantage when it comes to 'getting on' in organisations do you know of any work that pinpoints the key issues? If we think of task management, people management and proactive reputation management as core strands, I would guess that introverts are less inclined to do the latter. But it is just a guess.
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