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Hexavian Book Review, The Book, Quiet by Susan Cain. who’s read the book?
We had a a chance to review it at The Outliers, a very private book reading and book club in Parkview Ikoyi over the weekend and I thought I should write about it so everyone can benefit too.
Quiet is a direct comparison of Extroverts, Introverts and Ambiverts (guys who sit on the balance. The pivot between Ying and Yang).
I wish Fani Kayode read that book a few years ago, I wish Dino Malaye and Fayose can read it now and then pass it on to Donald Trump. Quiet. I urge everyone to read it now that they can, It is a New York Times bestseller titled QUIET: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking,
The book reveals one of my biggest secrets, secrets shared by all public figures and extroverts (it is on how after all the noise we make, we value our “me’ time for retrospects. After all the openness and interactions with the limelight, we always find a cave to recharge our expended energy). It’s a book on creative energy and solitude. Solitude creates creativity, and a powerful tool for entrepreneurs. Spiritually, it creates an ambiance for God to talk to us. Listen in it.
Solitude is key. The world is full of noise, which is the cause of conflicts and battles.However, some of the greatest battles will be fought and won in the chambers of your soul, mind and heart.My mentor, the late Chaz B will always quote Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life” . Introversion is something we should all be at times. At least for half of the time. At least know how to admire or tolerate people who are. This is because, at least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Michael Jackson, Dangote, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society.
Silence can be golden, it’s a sleep that nourishes the soul. However, I am extrovert with introvert tendencies, I guess that makes me an ambivert. I was way more talk active growing up. To me these days, my concept is, when you feel you have said a lot, have nothing else to say, else say nothing. And even when I feel like I have a strong point to still make, I just take action in silence. Silence could be a very loud way of saying “I’m tired of explaining to people who don’t care to understand” . So I just did it.
In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. Research has shown that there’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas. Also introvert shouldn’t suggest being dumb or boring. It actually suggests depth. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, superbly researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.
I urge everyone to read this New York Times bestseller QUIET: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking, I wish Fani Kayode read that book a few years ago, I wish Dino Malaye and Fayose can read it now and then pass it on to Donald Trump. Quiet.
1.Business and life is a subtle war. And a war has a series of battles. Choose your battles careful, learn to lose some battles to silence, just so you can win the war.
2. In the words of Aristotle, “it is the mark of a superior mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it”.
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3 comments
If only the megaphones on churches and mosques in Nigeria could broadcast the message in What Blacks Don’t Know….for 21days every morning……if only…..thank you for saying something many of us know to be true but do not know how to express….thank you…
@Ihotu, Thanks.
Just as some animals naturally carry their shelters everywhere they go with them (tortoise, snails,etc), so are some humans and there is nothing wrong with it.
We don’t always have to come out of our shells. Personally, I am a weird introvert that loves to speak in public, if I am not the one organizing/project managing a show or concert, I probably wont attend. My birthday is in a few days and I’d be working out from and speaking at the Southern Sun Ikoyi. The work part is the only thing on my mind. Its so bad that I told my friend that I don’t look forward to my own wedding because having a crowd (except if its work), is not my thing, probably, I have never attended more than 3 concerts in my own life. I have been living alone for over a decade but has never had a TV in my house. Its always strange when due to nature of my work and maybe social status, I usually get front row seats and premium table tickets to shows and I’d almost always turn around and ask, who wants to go instead, then I hand over the tickets.
There is a misconception that being great is to be bold, outward facing and social. That is just an extrovert ideal syndrome at play. 1/3 of the world are introvert. They usually listen more than they speak, think before they talk, express themselves better in writing, hate small talks and conflicts , keep a close knit level of friendship and inner-circle and most importantly, they recharge their batteries by being alone. Introversion isnt same as shyness. Shyness is a fear of social disapproval, while introversions is the avoidance of overstimulating environment. Shyness is painful being an introvert isn’t.
Susan Cain once again opens up the realms of dialogue with Quiet: The Power of Introverts. Enlightening the world to those little people who suffer from being too quiet and misunderstood, the ones that grow up in a word that can’t stop talking. These are our introverted children.
This book is life-changing for people who are introverts or who have introverts in their lives. In other words – all of us. Through short stories of actual events in young children’s lives, Susan captures the essence and beautiful purpose of the young introvert.