Quiet by Susan Cain

The subtitle for this book is ‘the power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking’ and I think this sums up the essence of this interesting book. Too often the person who volunteers to answer is seen as the person who ‘knows all’ and this is rewarded in so many aspects of our life (how many teacher conferences mention how they would really like their student to speak up more in class without maybe considering what would happen if all students spoke up all the time). This book challenges this belief and moves focus to what introvert bring to the table (so to speak). And this is a long list - empathy, understanding, intelligence, aptitude to name a few. The book shares studies which show how introverts out perform extroverts. It also helps question the institutional acceptance that extrovert is best.

For me, it was a really nice mix of lived experience and research and also encouraged me to challenge some of those long held beliefs. It also left me curious as to whether I am (as I always thought I was) an extrovert or actually really an introvert who has learnt extrovert skills to survive in a largely extrovert world!