In quiet praise of introverts

Corporate (and social) America does lots of things very well - positiveness, enthusiam and lack of (English?) cynicism being some of the best attributes in my view - but other things are not so good such as long "townhall" conference calls with 30 people on the call and only 3 people taking part, and the seeming need to continue talking when it is already evident to you and many listening that you don't know what you are talking about. With these things in mind, I think this article "The Rise of the New Groupthink" in the New York Times is worth a read, as it challenges some of the mainstream practices on corporate collaboration and teaming, and comes out in quiet praise of the creative power of introverts. Seems like Dilbert's cubicle still has its merits in these days of open plan offices and desk sharing.

Comments

[Madelyn Sminkey]

I couldn't agree more, and such a great atricle. To emphasize the idea of individualism, introverts, and quite work time, blow is a link of Jason Fried's TedTV Talk "Why Work Doesn't Happen at Work."

http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work.html

I think if the word gets out, offices and meetings will completely change, employees will have more freedom to work as they know best, and I believe productivity will truly increase.

[Brian Sentance]

Hi Madelyn,

Thanks for the comment and I have just taken a look/listen to the Jason Fried's video. It is very funny and very sensible. I love his last suggestion to just cancel your next meeting if you have the power to do so, and that you would find that the world won't come to a stop and the free time for all that would have been involved would be much more valuable.

There is no substitute in my view for meeting people face to face with something specific to talk about, but there are a lot of meetings done just because they are in the calendar. I work from home a few days a week (as do many of our developers) and I find it the most productive "get stuff done" time I have.

Best wishes

Brian.