Introverts have a way with technology

Introverts have moved the needle for mankind much more than we give them credit for.

By Shalini Verma (Real & Virtual)

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Published: Mon 6 Jan 2020, 9:35 PM

Last updated: Mon 6 Jan 2020, 11:37 PM

A young boy did not get admission in a reputed school because he was not as communicative as his peers in a group interview. However, another school selected him while noting that he was quiet and focused. Unfortunately, these attributes do not square with the society at large.
Nearly a hundred years ago, psychologist Carl Jung was the first to recognise the 'introvert' or the inward-looking, in his seminal research work, Psychologische Typen.
According to Google, an introvert is a shy, reticent person - an implicit acknowledgement that society has labelled introversion as a problem. I hear people casually saying that this problem can be fixed. The bias starts early. Parents are almost apologetic about their introvert children. We push them into social and group activities to correct their behaviour. The selection process for academia and employment is set up in favour of extroverts and tends to weed out the quiet and focused ones.
With the rise of capitalism and industrialisation, outer charm became a more important attribute over inner virtues. A stream of self-help books has been touting extroversion as the definitive mantra for success. This meant that a culture of personality replaced a culture of character that was more valued in the erstwhile community-based agrarian society.
Today, this overt preference for an extrovert culture is making our world a rather noisy place. Indian television news programmes seem like gladiatorial arenas where debaters vanquish their opponents with loud voices and strong emotions. If you were an introvert and participated on Indian news programmes, you would likely be outvoiced by those who think it is okay to be aggressive and speak out of turn. They have made a business out of the culture of extroversion. The flexing of muscles, one-upmanship, and a cavalier attitude of nations in their domestic and foreign affairs have pushed the world into a violent place. More than ever we feel the need to learn the value of being quiet and focused.
It turns out that nearly half of the human population account for introverts. Most of the artistic and creative world - the painters, sculptors, writers, and scientists are introverts. The technology world was pretty much defined by the introverted nerd who represented the socially awkward of the 80s and 90s. At the turn of the twentieth century, leaders of technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon made the nerds more fashionable. Jeff Bezos demonstrated that you could be a leader and an introvert.
Introverts prefer to quietly work towards their goals. They have the power to reflect in silence. They have better listening abilities, allowing them to dig deep for solutions.
Introverts have moved the needle for mankind much more than we give them credit for. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, admitted in a 2013 interview that he could be silent at times, which unsettles people a little because they don't know what he is thinking. Even he was offended when he was called a nerd because of its universal connotations.
Introvert leaders find refreshing ways to inspire their team. Jack takes his team to see the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. To him the bridge is a perfect example of design that is functional and simple because commuters do not think about the engineering behind it.
This explains his intense and obsessive approach to simplifying Twitter's experience.
This also explains how introverts in general have built the digital world we use today.
We generally do not think about the obscure but brilliant work of the so-called nerds to make the technology disappear from our digital lives.
Susan Cain who authored the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts clarifies that introverts are not necessarily shy. Shyness is the fear of negative judgement that we all feel to some degree. Introverts prefer a minimal stimulating environment.
Extroverts on the other hand require higher levels of stimulus to perform well.
Introverts prefer to work in solitude or in small intimate groups.
There is no way that one can escape the hustle and bustle of today's life. Introverts have to make peace with it. Jack Dorsey puts is beautifully when he likens living in New York to sitting in a car in the middle of a thunderstorm. Everything is raging around you, but you are safe inside a car. At some level he was describing how introverts like him deal with life. Most of us fall somewhere between an introvert and an extrovert - the type Susan Cain calls ambiverts. We need to leverage either side to our advantage.
But if you or your child is quiet and focused, you need to frequently celebrate this quality.
Shalini Verma is CEO of PIVOT technologies


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