Quiet

Broad, but for the most part sufficiently deep. Only exception was the discussion on the difference between American and Asian culture(s), which I found too anecdotal and superficial to be of any interest.

Some ideas will influence my thinking in my job as a teacher: both overall concepts, such as high vs low sensitivity, to specific advice, such as how to organise group discussions.

As with many similar issues: Adapting classes to fit more types of students also increases the quality of the class for all students.

This one gets four stars in part because so much of it resonated with me as a mostly-introvert. Cain starts out strongly, but I wondered a lot about the strength of her conceptual framework the more I read. I think it's a useful framework, recognizing how some folks are more introverted and some folks are more extroverted, but I wonder about the limits of the framework, and she doesn't talk much about the limits. I would have enjoyed a discussion of introvert/extrovert as parts of a spectrum more.

Still, if you tend toward introversion, this book provides a framework that comes as something of a relief.

I think the best and worst section is the one on being in a relationship with someone who is of the “opposite” types.

Excellent, insightful

In a world that largely understands introversion and extroversion as being shy or outgoing, Quiet is a refreshing and deep look at the reality of introversion. Personalities are complicated in every aspect, but not all are trivialized the way introversion/extroversion are. Susan explores the concept in great detail, not to say that introversion is better than extroversion, but that despite what our society tends to believe, being a quieter or more reserved person can provide strengths we all need.

I would recommend this book to anyone who feels they are introverted, anyone who has a close relationship with an introvert, or anyone interested in learning more about introversion in general.

An excellent read!

The OG book that made me understand why my brain worked a certain way. It's been now more than 10 years, but the lessons stayed with me. My brain (and possibly yours) sends signals with an intensity that's not the same as an extrovert's. That's fine. There's a reason for it. You'll learn to cope and make your life work for your own needs.

I'll forever be grateful to Susan Cain for helping me discover who I was.

(One day I'll re-read this and write a proper review.)

An interesting read so far, about how did we (the Western world) get where we are in valuing the talker more than the thinker

This book validated my soul and is one of my top 5 reads of all time.

I found this book very informative about myself and the society I live in. It was written by Susan Cain, who is an introvert, a personality type that prefers being quite to outgoing (extrovert). This book discusses how our society became dominated by the "Culture of Personality" as opposed to the pervious "Culture of Character" and how introverts can contribute in that culture. Many introverts, of which I am one, feels left out or talked over in the world we live in. We like quite time and do our best work when we are left alone or in small groups. The current work culture, especially of large corporations, seem to believe that great work only comes from large, outgoing groups. The author discusses when the societal changes took place as well as cultural differences. She puts forward ideas on how introverts can still contribute to our work and society. She also gives some ideas for parents of introverted children, who are naturally quite or are not as outgoing as other children, that can help their children grow and navigate the friendships they form. I feel this book can also be useful to others who have quite friends and even those in a leadership position who have people who prefer to work alone or rarely speak up in meetings (there might be reason). After all according to this book, studies have shown that one third to one half of Americans are introverts.

THIS IS THE MOST BORING BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. I have reached a point of forcing myself to read it, and I couldn't finish half of this book. The book was all over the place & I never found any value on it, maybe because I already knew what introverts are. I read its summary to not miss anything, but unfortunately, the book still failed to deliver any value. I can say it's more of a validation book for the introverts around us (including me)

Key takeaways:

- I liked this book. It helped me understand my style, why I am the way I am, and how to use my personality to be successful.
- This book started out really well, then I feel like the back half lost a lot of steam. I think this is probably a consequence of publishers requiring books to be a certain length. I understand why they do this, as I would probably have a mental block against buying a book that was only 50 pages, yet it is unfortunate because this book would have been more powerful if it was only 50 pages and left out some of the other ‘fluff'.
- The plane crash game seemed really powerful. 1. You have a list of 15 or so items recovered from a plane crash. You have to rank them in order of usefulness. 2. You get into groups to rank them. 3. Compare your individual and group rankings against the ‘answer key' created by a wilderness survival expert. If any individual scores higher than the group, you lose! It helps teach the importance of getting everyone's ideas and making sure to include the quieter group members.
- Presentation skills vs ideas. It is easy to get swept up by a good presenter even if their ideas aren't good. At the same time it is easy to ignore someone has good ideas but bad presentation.
- Right Solutions is a tech company that has employees submit ideas through an online portal. This helps offset the good idea/good presenter problem.
- The bus to Abilene: If someone suggests an idea because they think it is what someone else wants, and everyone else agrees because they think it is what the first person wants, you are on the bus to Abilene. You don't want to go to Abilene.
- “I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job.”
- When Jim Collins was writing Good to Great, he found all of the companies were led by a quiet, unassuming CEO. The people who worked with these CEOs described them as “quiet, humble modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, understated.” Collins says, “The lesson is clear. We don't need giant personalities to transform companies. We need leaders who build not their own egos, but the institutions they run.”
- Re-read 2:04:30 for about five minutes. Good conversation about CEOs.
- Open floor plan offices don't seem to work. They lead to lower productivity, impair memory, high staff turnover, sickness and hostility.
- Since reading Range, by David Epstein I have been a big believer in innovation and groups of people from diverse backgrounds working together to solve problems. I had always assumed doing that as a group was the answer. This book suggests that it would be far better to give people time to consider the problems ahead of time, then after they have had a chance to brainstorm privately, you should get them together in a group.

Introverts should read this.
Extroverts should read this.
Ambiverts should read this.

Lots of great information here about how people are different and require different things, and how allowing those people to meet their needs in a way suitable to them will benefit everyone. Extroverts really do love running rampant around everyone else, haha.

This book also convinced me I'm probably more towards the introvert side of things. I'm definitely in the Ambivert range, but I hit almost every marker for introversion too.

I learned quite a bit reading this book, but I don't know that it was terribly actionable. While there was a neat bow wrapped around everything at the end, it felt too tidy.

I wasn't sure about it in the beginning due to the stereotype of introvert=sensitive and extravert=aggressive. But I fully enjoyed the end.

A very good book at highlighting how tailored societal structure in the USA is towards extroverts and the advantages/disadvantages each type has.

3.5

Not a bad read but was expecting something more exciting and inspiring as an introvert myself. The first half of the chapters were interesting but the ideas became redundant by the second half. An overall decent read, but nothing too amazing.

Another unexpected addition to my read pile and I have to say that this was a nice way to end the year. As a self confessed introvert who hates socializing but can fake being a loud and talkative person when very necessary, I found this pretty relatable. I liked the science behind the personality and behavioral types even if I didn't always understand it. And I know I'm not a bad person for wanting to be alone and cherishing my solitude many times but sometimes it's nice to see someone else say that. I did particularly find something to ponder about when the author was talking about introvert-extrovert couples and how to behave with introvert and shy children, so maybe I will come back to the author's advise in these matters if and when I need them in the future. Overall a good book but may not be for everyone. The audiobook was also narrated quite well.

Un excellent livre, très bien sourcé et documenté, sur l'introversion.

Susan Cain y explique comment l'idéal extraverti a été mis en valeur depuis le début du XXe siècle, au moins dans le monde occidental, et comment cette valorisation d'un idéal qui ne leur ressemble pas impacte la vie et la santé mentale des introvertis.

L'autrice mêle habilement des éléments tirés de recherches plus ou moins récentes en psychologie et des histoires de vie d'introverties qu'elle a rencontrés dans le cadre de ses recherches sur le sujet.

Susan Cain ne se contente pas de dresser un constat et de décrire les traits de personnalité et le fonctionnement des introvertis, elle propose également des clefs pour mieux vivre son introversion. Elle le fait avec des exemples concrets, ce qui est appréciable.

J'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre, parce que je me suis évidemment reconnu dans ce portrait de l'introverti minoritaire dans une société qui valorise l'idéal extraverti. J'aurais sans doute aimé le lire il y a bien longtemps, pour m'aider à accepter ce trait de caractère et mieux vivre avec. Ce livre me semble en tout cas un bon moyen de déculpabiliser celles et ceux qui ne se reconnaissent pas dans l'idéal extraverti mis en avant dans notre société occidentale.

Many of the ideas are nothing new (to me), and I think Cain uses both anecdotes and research in a simplistic way that mainly serves to support her message of empowerment for introverts. However I do find her writing style to be engaging, comforting and inspiring. 4/5 stars - If I treat this book as an editorial on culture intended to empower people, as opposed to a fair exposition of the psycholgical research on introversion and personality in general.

This book made me realize it's okay to be an introvert as the exemplar of a gregarious and ebullient extravert has been projected upon every child growing up in the past 80 years.

As an introvert, I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this book. And I was really blown away by how much I did. It's not just because the book is encouraging to introverts for all the ways we feel misunderstood. This book is thoroughly researched yet presented with very approachable writing. Cain mixes individual stories to illuminate with research about the science of temperament and personality. My favorite portion was a chapter that included a longitudinal study of children and their reactions to new stimuli, showing that infants whose brains were highly reactive to news stimuli grew up to have more introverted personalities. In other words, some introversion could be related to one's neurological sensitivity to the world around you. I'm fascinated by these ways our neurology and psychology interact.

I got to page four and just couldn't take any more eye rolling. Rosa parks is amazing, however she didn't single handedly bring about the social justice movement. Worse still is the ultra heavy bias tone towards introvertism; that introverts are noble victims of a society that needs them.

Cain's academic background is impressive, however her degrees are in English and law, not psychology or sociology.

In many ways I consider this an important and deep book. Having battled with introversion and shyness for all my youth and having learned to accept these traits as fundamental to my personality while being extremely grateful of how my life turned out, it was very interesting how more complex things can be and to see clarified some concepts that were maybe already in rough form in my head. It was also fun to see how some things described in the book may apply to me or to people I know.
On the other hand, the book is pretty uneven. The author has a bias in proving her thesis that makes her analysis of cases a little unbalanced going deep on some concepts and barely mentioning others. Also, as a Silicon Valley resident, I strongly believe that she totally missed on the deep problematics of the Cupertino school system and that she only touched on the aspects of a very complex situation that were instrumental to her paradigm.
Finally, even though my kids are loud extroverts, I found the chapters and suggestions about parenthood, very helpful and well written.

This book has been an incredibly influential book. It has helped me understand how I interact with people. It has helped me understand various events from the past and how they have shaped the person that I am today. Most of all, it has given me the confidence that I need to be comfortable with not saying something for the sake of saying something. I recommend this book to both introverts and extroverts to help each other understand how to interact with one another.

The book for the introvert in you that does not seem to fit in society models advertising what life should be. Susan tells us that is ok to be an outsider, and also that you can live your life without shame and to its fullest potential. Totally recommended.

Really interesting book. I'm pretty introverted, so it was interesting to get a bit of insight into some of it. I feel like I need to read this multiple times to really understand it all.