Quiet

In this work, Susan Cain challenges the tendency of our western societies to favor extraverted personalities. These are associated to valued traits of character, such as a taste for socialization, the ease to talk in public, or the rapidity of action. This bias, the author points out, reflects the current fad of our societies towards collaboration and teamwork. But, in reality, introverts can be as good team members or leaders as the extraverts, she demonstrates in a convincing manner. They simply have different styles and are often complementary. In fact, a balance between the two styles holds strong virtues. The author notably highlights in the third chapter how team work can negatively impact creativity—and lists the assets of an approach that is closer to introverts’ natural style. An interesting and documented hindsight book.