Introversion Is Not Something We Grow Out Of

David Johnson has written a much-needed piece called “I Used To Be An Introvert, But” about people claiming to be former introverts. The bottom line: there is no such thing as getting over introversion and why would we want to anyway? We would give up the many traits that set introverts apart: strong abilities for idea synthesis, compelling leadership abilities that harness the skills of the entire team, or the enjoyment of both substantial conversation and quiet contemplation.

David eloquently explores possible motivations for fleeing from introversion. An underlying theme is a misunderstanding of what introversion actually is. So let’s bust some myths with four quick introversion essentials:

1. Introverts are not broken. There is nothing to fix. Introversion is one expression of a personality trait, no more a pathology than extroversion.

2. Introversion is not the same as shyness. There are shy extroverts and there are social introverts. While there is some overlap in the characteristics of introversion and shyness, they are different phenomena.

3. Introverts get saturated differently than extroverts. While extroverts tend to have little endurance for solitude, introverts have lower endurance for social stimulation. Both need to recharge in their preferred environments.

4. Introversion is worse than extroversion. Over the past 100 years, US culture has idealized extroversion, but remember three important things. (1) Before that, an introverted nature was as socially accepted as extroversion is now. Or more. (2) In many cultures around the world, introversion is the preferred personality type. And (3) some of the most effective business leaders in United States history have been introverts.

Introversion is not something we grow out of. It is simply a personality characteristic. We can choose to feel victimized by being an introvert, decide we are broken and give up on our dreams. Or we can embrace who we are, build skills on top of this one personality characteristic and change the world by being our ourselves.

Unplugged is the New Connected

Most of us have seen this video of a woman so engrossed by texting that she trips into a mall fountain. It’s funny. Who is this crazy woman and how could she be so oblivious?!?!?!?!? We’d never ever do anything like that, right? None of us knows a friend who almost walked into a crosswalk against the light. None of us knows anyone who almost walked into a signpost. None of us knows anyone who nearly got into a car accident while being distracted by a cellphone call. And surely none of us knows of anyone whose phone dropped into the toilet because they needed to be connected while pooping. None of that ever happens.

Yeah, we’re connected. We know all the news Google tells us is important. We can text snarky play by play of our crazy coworkers during meetings. We’ve got that down to a science. Connection! We can keep up with all the invented controversy around Justin Bieber or be the first to share a meme to friends. Connected! We need to check the Facebook to see how many likes our witty status update got in the last five minutes. We need to do this during meetings, during phone calls, during dinner, during movies. Repeatedly. We need to respond immediately to any alert from our device, just in case it makes us more connected.
Continue reading “Unplugged is the New Connected”