Studies have shown that performance gets worse as group size increases ... If you have talented and motivated people, they should be encouraged to work alone when creativity or efficiency is the highest priority. Susan Cain More Quotes by Susan Cain More Quotes From Susan Cain Every American was to become a performing self. Susan Cain performing self One genuine new relationship is worth a fistful of business cards. Susan Cain genuine new-relationship cards Introversion - along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness - is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology. Susan Cain cousin disappointment class In most job interviews, people say they are looking for people skills and emotional intelligence. That's reasonable, but the question is, how do you define what that looks like? Susan Cain emotional skills jobs The emphasis is on community, on participating in more and more programs and events, on meeting more and more people. It’s a constant tension for many introverts that they’re not living that out. And in a religious world, there’s more at stake when you feel that tension. It doesn’t feel like ‘I’m not doing as well as I’d like.’ It feels like ‘God isn’t pleased with me.’ Susan Cain community religious people I worry that there are people who are put in positions of authority because they're good talkers, but they don't have good ideas. Susan Cain worry people ideas One honest relationship can be more productive than fistfuls of business cards. Susan Cain honest business cards It's never a good idea to organize society in a way that depletes the energy of half the population. Susan Cain population energy ideas In a way, education by its nature favours the extrovert because you are taking kids and putting them into a big classroom, which is automatically going to be a high-stimulation environment. Probably the best way of teaching in general is one on one, but that's not something everyone can afford. Susan Cain favour teaching kids We have a two-tier class system when it comes to personality style. To devalue introversion is a waste of talent, energy and happiness. Susan Cain personality class two I'm not saying abolish group work - I think there's a time and a place for people to come together and exchange ideas, but let's restore the respect we once had for solitude. And we need to be much more mindful of the way we come together. Susan Cain people ideas thinking I've wanted to be a writer since I was four years old! Susan Cain four-years four years Naked lions are just as dangerous as elegantly dressed ones Susan Cain naked dangerous lions Love is essential; gregariousness is optional. Cherish your nearest and dearest. Work with colleagues you like and respect. Scan new acquaintances for those who might fall into the former categories or whose company you enjoy for its own sake. And don't worry about socializing with everyone else. Relationships make everyone happier, introverts included, but think quality over quantity. Susan Cain love-is fall thinking We don’t ask why God chose as his prophet a stutterer with a public speaking phobia. But we should. The book of Exodus is short on explication, but its stories suggest that introversion plays yin to the yang of extroversion; that the medium is not always the message; and that people followed Moses because his words were thoughtful, not because he spoke them well. Susan Cain thoughtful play book Or at school you might have been prodded to come “out of your shell”—that noxious expression which fails to appreciate that some animals naturally carry shelter everywhere they go, and that some humans are just the same. Susan Cain expression animal school It's not that there is no small talk...It's that it comes not at the beginning of conversations but at the end...Sensitive people...'enjoy small talk only after they've gone deep' says Strickland. 'When sensitive people are in environments that nurture their authenticity, they laugh and chitchat just as much as anyone else. Susan Cain gone laughing people Another study, of 38,000 knowledge workers across different sectors, found that the simple act of being interrupted is one of the biggest barriers to productivity. Even multitasking, that prized feat of modern-day office warriors, turns out to be a myth. Susan Cain warrior office simple ...if you can think of meetings you've attended, you can probably recall a time - plenty of times - when the opinion of the most dynamic or talkative person prevailed to the detriment of all. Susan Cain opinion persons thinking Women were also urged to work on a mysterious quality called 'fascination.' Coming of age in the 1920's was a competitive business. Susan Cain fascination quality age