Silent People Have the Loudest Minds

As I was contemplating what to wear to my friend’s birthday party, I was also contemplating going at all. So many people – people I didn’t know. The card said there would be a trampoline, and a jump house, which worsened my anxiety. As I searched for the perfect outfit, I found my knee brace from a few years back. My problem was solved! My 10 year old self wore that knee brace to the party – and when I was sitting inside with one or two other people, everyone just assumed I was resting my knee. Jump house? Trampoline? Of course not. No jokes would come my way about being boring. No assumptions that I am “no fun.” The knee brace I wore to that party was more a brace for my mind than a brace for my knee. It was an excuse to be who I am.

Who am I? I am an introvert, tried and true. For many years, I was unaware of the two differing personality types dominating our world. I would often be left confused at why I hated doing all the things that made my peers look so happy. I never understood that it wasn’t that I didn’t like to have fun; it was just that my fun was different from theirs. Reading a book by the fire with my parents is much more appealing to me than going out to eat with a large group. My friends are few, but my connections to them are deep and lasting. I enjoy long conversations about things that matter and I love time to think and write. I am an artist, obsessed with photography and the written word. I am not quick to react out of emotion, but take a more logic based approach to dealing with life’s conflicts. I listen – listen to everything around me, and often end up being the person someone calls on in a time of need. I enjoy leading, and speaking in front of large groups of people. I very rarely take risks that could result in public ridicule, and am very easily embarrassed in front of people I don’t know well.

Before I started studying the introvert-extrovert spectrum, I did not associate myself with either extreme. I did not feel that any part of me listed above fit into either side of what I thought the spectrum was. I wasn’t shy, rude, anxious, depressed, and I didn’t hate people. I think I’m the opposite of all those things, so because that was who I thought an introvert was, I thought maybe I was an extrovert. But I had none of the qualities that my mind associated with extroverts either, such as the constant loudness and need for attention. Because of this lack of an obvious answer, I researched more into what introversion and extroversion truly meant, beyond the haze of what society epitomizes them to be. The definition of an introvert: ME. The definition of an extrovert? OPPOSITE OF ME. Everything about who I was, what I like and don’t like, what I do and don’t do, what makes me cringe and what lights me up; all of it lined up identically with everything I learned an introvert to be, and none of what I learned an extrovert to be. Extroverts are built for action, and they reflect and react simultaneously. This leads to a feeling of comfort within the unknown. They have social skills, and are often the life of the party. They are the gossip; and often, you will know everything they are thinking because they will voice it. They are often involved in conflict with their bounty of friends, and are generally not naturally artistic. “Introverts, in contrast, have strong social skills and enjoy parties, but after a while just wish they were home in their PJs. They prefer to devote their social energies to close friends, and colleagues, and family. They listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and often feel as if they express themselves better in writing than in conversation. They tend to dislike conflict and many have a horror of small talk, but enjoy deep discussions (Cain 39).”

I had grown up trying to be what society glorified: loud, charismatic, sociable, and over all, a part of the crowd. But as I continued to grow and mature, I realized that for one, I didn’t often like what the crowd stood for; and two, I just didn’t like crowds at all. As I progressed into junior high, I realized I could fake it pretty well – fake it all. The smiles, the gossip, the useless chit chat. The group projects were nightmarish, and my strive to get the A gave everyone else an A, which made me even more angry. Wanting to work alone began to seem like a bad thing, and I often tried to change my habits to fit societal expectations.

My research has resulted in an affirmation that society as a whole does idolize the more extroverted person. As beautifully put by introverted op-ed columnist Bryan Walsh, America is land of the loud and home of the talkative. We vote for the relatable politicians, instead of the smartest ones. We see the chit chatty people as happy, and no matter what, we strive to be that. “From classrooms built around group learning to open-plan offices that encourage endless meetings, it sometimes seems that the quality of your work has less value than the volume of your voice (Walsh).” However, Susan Cain, best-selling author of the book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, is bringing to light the immense gifts that introverted people bring to this world.

Albert Einstein, for example, was a supreme introvert, and once said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” This is an idea that most introverted people would understand, and it is also why the few introverts that reach leadership positions end up doing extraordinarily well. My father is deeply introverted, but he is also the CEO of a real estate company, with thousands of employees under his leadership. Traits of his introversion are very obvious, but these traits directly correlate to the traits that everyone loves about him, and they are what make him so successful. In the face of conflict, he always reacts out of logic first, wanting to gain all the facts and determine the actual consequences before all else. Extroverted leaders often react out of raw emotion, which usually makes problems worse and often alienates employees. Introverted leaders also have more individualized relationships with their workforce, psychologically leading to enhanced employee performance. Psychologists have determined “that effective leaders should focus on mentoring, empowering, and developing people, behaviors that are more consistent with introverts than extroverts (Williams).”

While introverts should not be passed up for leadership roles, leaders must also not pass up the needs of their introverted employees. In this new ‘conceptual’ age, businesses like Zappos and Google are transforming their offices into playgrounds meant to foster growth and innovation for the company, via increased happiness levels from their employees. Many companies are slowly following their example, and with that comes many open plan offices, team rooms, boards, get togethers, and the creation of a family/team like atmosphere. This is a great new model for American businesses, but there must also be a place for the introverts among us to go. While the rollerskating and segwaying around the office is fun for all, there are some that only want to do that for a little while, and then would prefer to go work alone. Because one out of every two or three people identify themselves as introverted, businesses would have much to gain by giving them the ability to also function at their highest intellectual level – a level of which can only be reached in solitude.

This favoring, per se, of the extroverted mind is not necessarily our natural tendency; however, because of the rise of what Susan Cain calls ‘groupthink,’ many children are raised in environments that award extroverts and shun introverts. This creates a predisposition that follows them into their lives and their careers. As Susan Cain recently said in a piece in the NY Times, “Today, elementary school classrooms are commonly arranged in pods of desks, to better foster group learning. Even subjects like math and creative writing are often taught as committee projects.” Tests are being given to the group, with only one grade, forcing the rest to get the grade of the loudest and most persuasive person. Not only is this unfair, it is beyond uncomfortable for an introverted student. And while we can’t attempt to make everyone happy, we must try to allow for more autonomy within schools, so that introverted students don’t grow up to be fake extroverts.

The amount of ‘fake extroverts’ we have surrounding us, I guarantee, is staggering. What is also staggering is the amount of intellect and knowledge we are losing by not catering to their need for more autonomy, in the schools and the workplace. This is about much more than making your employees or your students comfortable – this is about providing them the space at which their brain is literally designed to work better in.

Introvert’s brains are designed to work alone – and were designed to be uninterrupted. On the same token, one would think that an extroverted brain is designed to work with others; however, it is not. Solitude is a large ingredient within good ideas, revelations and epiphanies. “Solitude has long been associated with transcendence. Moses, Jesus, Buddha, went by themselves,” off into the quiet wild and ended up becoming historical figures that most will always remember. And, as observed by psychologist Hans Eysenck, “concentrating the mind on the tasks in hand, prevents the dissipation of energy on social matters…” It is as if introverted people were simply born with the innate knowing of how to get the most out of their efforts. Extroverted people may thrive on the camaraderie of group activities; however, they are still going to be more efficient, innovated people if they give themselves time to think, alone.

In this loud, fast paced, technologically group based society we live in, where charisma is lionized, we must remember the way in which we are engineered to think most effectively if we want to leave a meaningful impact. In schools and the workplace alike, we must allow for more readily available, optional autonomy. The best, most neutral way to handle these two diverse personalities in this world is to work autonomously on individual pieces of the puzzle, and then come together at the end to figure out how the pieces all fit. “Culturally, we’re often so dazzled by charisma that we overlook the quiet part of the creative process,” a scientifically significant part.

But as to most problems, there are also answers that lay within us, and the problem of honoring both personalities is no different. There exists two distinct personality types for a reason, and balance is essential. Opposites attract, and oftentimes, introverts and extroverts collaborate to create extraordinary things. Apple computers, for example, were created by a man named Steve. No, not Steve Jobs. Steve Wozniak, a self proclaimed introvert who designed the first Apple sitting in a cubicle at HP. He would also work on it at home, alone. He unveiled his amazing creation to his friend, Steve Jobs, and together co-founded Apple Computer (Cain). Steve Job’s supernatural magnetism got the company to where it is today, but it would be no where without the quiet skills of Steve Wozniak. In Wozniak’s memoir, he gives this advice to aspiring inventors:

Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me … they live in their heads. They’re almost like artists. In fact, the very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone …. I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is: Work alone… Not on a committee. Not on a team. (Wozniak)

Apple Inc. is now one of the most successful companies in the world, having a net worth greater than most third-world countries. This immense level of success could not have been achieved without the extrovert, but it also could not have been achieved without the introvert. This marriage of the two personalities has created something all of us have come to rely upon and enjoy, and it is a partnership that we should all take note of. So while I focused on the hidden power of introverts, maybe we should look also at the hidden power of the two working together. With balance, and respect, awe inspiring things can emerge.

Education Rant

I’m one of those people. Yep, I admit it. I’m the kind of person that lies in bed at night, staring out the window, unable to sleep – confused and lost about the sheer amount of obstacles this world faces. I think about fixing one, and all of a sudden, a hierarchy begins to appear. Something that is more important than that other thing, that will effect that other thing if I can just fix that first. For years, I’ve tried to figure out how to dedicate my life to the thing that will effect the most other things, to dedicate my life to the top of the pyramid – to make the biggest ripple of change. And as I’ve searched, I haven’t found anything. Every time I think I’m on to something, something grander and grander always appears. And then, I read Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I thought, ok, I get it now. Maybe, just maybe, the biggest change we can make is within ourselves. I can do that…but I also need to pay the bills here eventually. Being self reliant, sadly, is not a paying job. Also, I am just not that simple minded. I need a tangible thing to fix. (I’m one of those people too, the person that likes to fix everybody and everything.) After all this time, I still needed an occupation to satisfy my desire to tackle the top of this pyramid that I have created in my head. I then began to learn about the education system, of which I am currently entrenched in, and the flaws it has. I hadn’t ever thought about it being a career though, or anything more than just another thing to add to my pyramid.

You see though, I’m kind of obsessed with education. Obsessed with learning, with the psychology of the different processes of each teacher, and with the teachers themselves. I’m in constant awe of the selflessness of the teachers I’m graced with everyday. It all started in Kindergarten. I have had some incredible teachers, and I’ve often times connected with them on a deeper level. And of course, I thought my obsession with education and my obsession with learning and my obsession with being amazed at these people, these teachers, that were shaping me and everyone around me and being so utterly selfless, I just thought it was because I was a kid. I was a kid, and I was being taught, and of course I would have this notion about teachers and education because I was surrounded by it. But as my horizons began to expand, and as I searched for the top of that pyramid in my head, I began to realize that education is not something I was passionate about because I was a student. That maybe, i was passionate about it because what else forms a person, other than their childhood, and what is a greater part of childhood than their education? These teachers, they are with these kids constantly, and they are forming them, informing them, and we must begin to realize, and I must begin to realize, in my search for the top, that the way to change most things is to start at the very, very bottom. Just start fixing, and healing and changing the next generation by starting young. By starting when it all begins. By starting when society makes its first, and most lasting, impact. If we can make their first impact, a positive impact – if we can make those 12 mandated years a positive experience, imagine the ripple effect.

Recently, a piece I wrote titled The Benefits of Abundance was awarded national recognition through the National Coalition of Teachers of English. It was focused on how education kills creativity, and how our educational system is extremely outdated. Hopefully, I will be reading the piece at an upcoming school board meeting, and my paper is already sitting upon my principals desk. The idea of even one more person reading this essay swells me with pride, but not for the reasons you may think. This is not an ego tripping joy ride for me. I could not care less about whose name is at the top of that paper, I just want people to hear what it says.

Another reason I’m pretty overjoyed right now is because, on my way home from work, I discovered that I could listen to TED talks through my car speakers. Yes, I am that huge of a geek. Anyway, TED recently did a series on education, all of which I listened to on my drive home. New ideas and new challenges flowed in and out of the speakers. The need for teachers to get more feedback, the need for horrible teachers to be fired, the need for teacher turnover rate to be lower, the need for school to be year round, the need for poor kids to get the same education as rich kids in the suburbs, and the need for even those rich kids education to be elevated, to a more creative level. We are giving these kids standardized tests, yet their educations are far from standard. Just as the disparity of wealth in our nation continues to rise, so does the disparity of education. I was recently at an admissions meeting with the University of California at Berkeley, and they said that they look at your “achievements within your context.” Wow, Berkeley, way to go. Except, as much as I’d be inclined to believe that people who work at UCB have super powers, I know that they don’t. I know that they aren’t going to be allowed to look at the achievements of an inner city gang banger, because his context is so bad he won’t ever get an application to their door. I also know that everybody’s achievements are not as great as they could be- should be– because of the deeply outdated mechanics of the American education machine.

One of the TED talks in the education series was the song True Colors, sung by John Legend. I played it over and over again, amazed at how unbelievably fitting it was. Almost every teacher I’ve ever had could have been the narrator of that song, of that meaning, and every word would have fit.

 You with the sad eyes

Don’t be discouraged

Oh I realize

Its hard to take courage

In a world full of people

You can lose sight of it all

And the darkness inside you

Can make you feel so small

But I see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And that’s why I love you

So don’t be afraid to let them show

Your true colors

True colors are beautiful,

Like a rainbow

Show me a smile then,

Don’t be unhappy, can’t remember

When I last saw you laughing

If this world makes you crazy

And you’ve taken all you can bear

You call me up

Because you know I’ll be there

 The teachers that I remember – the teachers that made an impact on me, sing this to their kids every single day. They meet kids where they are at, they see the potential through the haze of circumstance, and they will be there for you. They are not only educators, they are therapists, parents, friends, and often times, truly amazing warm hearted people. Now, I have never really had a teacher serenade my class with the words of the great Cyndi Lauper, but they all have gotten the same points across in their own ways. My current art teacher, for example, is everybody’s therapist, friend, motivator, college advisor, homework helper, and essay editor. Oh, and that’s on top of teaching art and cultivating all of our creativity.  She is so aware of the inner workings of everyone around her she probably could tell you the last time she saw you laugh. Her room is always open, and she is always there. She is selfless and she is an educator and she cares.

 I’d love to end that by saying that’s just how teachers are, except that’s not true. That’s how good teachers are. That’s how teachers should be.Teachers have a responsibility to realize the impact they have. Some of mine have, and some of mine haven’t. But FYI, I live in a rich white suburb. If I’m getting a few great teachers here and there, imagine how many the kid an hour away from me in the south side of Chicago is getting.

On a last note, these great teachers I’ve had – they are ready. They are ready for a sweeping change within the system. They are doing everything they can within the boundaries of the curriculum and the rules, but they’re also ready, willing and able to help make these indescribably necessary changes. But they need help. They need school board members that will listen, they need parents that are engaged, they need lawmakers to sit down with them and hear their personal stories, they need resources and they need advocates.

The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again expecting different results, so if we can come to the realization that what we have doesn’t work, and if we want to bring sanity back into the American educational system, a change has to happen. And we have to make it happen. Let’s open our eyes and honor the umbrella of which education holds over all else, and change it for the better.

The Benefits of Abundance

Once again my AP Language and Composition class is making it on to the blog…I wish I could accurately describe my love for this class, but it simply can’t be done. Anyway, below is an essay for that class regarding the same articles of which I spoke about in this blog. Enjoy and please feel free to leave responses or additional opinions!

The Benefits of Abundance

A few hours ago, I spoke with my parents about an ACT preparatory class that I need to sign up for. There are many options, ranging from $599 – $3700…all so the piece of paper in the mailbox will have a higher number on it…so I can get into a school that will eventually just cost even more money. You see though, I have been preparing for this test all my life – from Kindergarten until the moment before I take the test. Education is conformed to meet this standardized test in order to help colleges choose which students are suitable for attendance at their institution. One number simply quantifies your value to them. This test determines the curriculum for schools, because aforementioned, it is all just a long, drawn out prep class for this exam. The exam questions and school curriculum are determined by the conception of economic utility. People have determined the qualities in which one should have in order to be useful in an economic sense. Everyone is groomed to be someone that has an occupation relevant to society and the economy as a whole. Accountants, doctors, lawyers, and engineers would all be at the top of anyone’s list when asked what a “good job” is. Our brain has two metaphorical hemispheres, and educators cater to the left brain focusing on analytic and academic skills because these are skills needed to get that “good job.” These two hemispheres work as muscles, one strengthening with practice while, inevitably, the other weakens. But that is okay because left brain work is better for the economy – or so we think.

So, hypothetically, I take this ridiculously expensive prep class after already taking the longest prep class of all, and I get the piece of paper in the mail with a 30 on it. This means that I can get into some fairly highly selective schools. I go to college, graduate with an MBA, and go off and try to find a job. Here lays the problem. Up until this point, the conceptual idea of education prioritizing economic utility has worked just fine. Many classes made me fall asleep, but I made it through with a good GPA and managed to get into college, which is the ideal path for many Americans. Now I have the dream job, and I’m relatively happy doing something I somewhat enjoy and am pretty average at. A year goes by and the company announces its downsizing and will be laying some people off. I end up being the first person to get let go.

This is becoming a reality for many workers of all ages and calibers. In a world of economic globalization, outsourcing, automation, and downsizing, new skills are arising that not only get you the job, but make sure you keep it. Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, puts it best when saying, “In a world in which more and more average work can be done by a computer, robot or talented foreigner faster, cheaper “and just as well,” vanilla does not cut it anymore. It’s all about what chocolate sauce, whipped cream and cherry you can put on top.” Op-Ed columnist Thomas Friedman calls the chocolate sauce, whipped cream and cherries “untouchabilities.” Additional qualities are needed in order to stay prevalent in the workforce – to make you untouchable. These qualities are derived from the metaphorical right brain – the location of creativity, imagination, innovation, empathy, compassion, problem solving and design abilities. For many years, the so called “non-academic” crowd has been viewed as useless and less than. Education is fully centered on the left brain, always exposing a hierarchy of math, science, and English, followed by humanities and lastly, by the arts. Students with right brain nature slowly lose the strength of that muscle due to our educational system. But this isn’t a case where a few kids are left behind because they were born more in their right mind – this is how most kids are. In a study cited by Sir Ken Robinson in his TED talk, 98% of Kindergartners are at what is considered genius level at divergent thinking, which is completely right brain driven. This particular test was a simple question of “How many ways can you think of to use a paper clip?” These same kids were continually tested and got significantly worse every passing year of schooling. By the time they graduated college, only 2% were considered genius level. Those Kindergarteners were as untouchable as it gets, yet schooling, the entity that was supposed to have enriched them, actually diminished their abilities.

The necessity for these new qualities seems to have been caused by outsourcing, automation and the state of the economy, but it is really much more than that. “Those who are waiting for this recession to end so someone can again hand them work could have a long wait,” said Friedman. The introduction of entities such as outsourcing and our ability to automate simple tasks has a source truly responsible for it all, and that is abundance. Abundance is everywhere, and it has opened the door for a new generation – a new hemisphere of our minds – to thrive. No more are the days when men are out in the field, growing food for the family, while women stay in and sew the clothes and teach the children. Abundance comes from the fact that, at some point, our daily lives became secure enough to invent products outside the realm of necessity and into the realm of want. This is where the “keys to the kingdom” changed dramatically. All of a sudden, you had to be able to convince people that they “needed” something they didn’t even know existed 10 minutes prior. You also must create a product in a way that makes it unique when compared to the hundreds of other similar products. On top of you needing to be untouchable, you also must be able to make whatever product you represent or create untouchable as well. Apple, and Steve Jobs, are the epitome of this concept. There are many mp3 players out there, but then there is the iPod. It is almost a category of its own. Why though? How did it get so popular so fast? The short answer is that it is a piece of art. An utter masterpiece, from the inner workings to the outer wrappings, it is simply beautiful. I think it is safe to call iPods untouchable, and it is untouchable because of the aesthetic. And aesthetic, of course, is all right brain thinking.

Time is something that we are taking advantage of more and more frequently and it allots us the ability to use, what Pink calls, the new 6 senses. He often refers to these new senses as the “benefits of abundance.” They include:

Design – moving beyond function to engage the senses

Story – Narrative added to products and services – not just an argument

Symphony- Adding invention and big picture thinking

Empathy- Going beyond logic and engaging emotion and intuition

Play- Bringing humor and lightheartedness to business and products

Meaning- the purpose is the journey, give meaning to life from inside (Pink)

Pink believes that these so called senses became relevant because of our “culture of abundance.” A benefit of abundance is the ability to move past just keeping your product alive to actually making it beautiful and stand out from the crowd. Many companies such as Google and Zappos are incorporating play into the work place with roller blades as transport, basketball courts for break time, and an over all happy-go-lucky work environment. Empathy is being used in many more commercials nowadays, as well as story. We have all seen that ASPCA commercial that makes you want to cry, right? Simply story and empathy being put into play. It also seems we have moved from the technological age into a more conceptual age, one where we are given the chance to wonder why we are here and strive to live a life with meaning. Lacking in these new senses could equate to lacking a job, especially for students who have been prepared for the workforce using outdated priorities.

As Sir Ken Robinson put it “education does not need to be reformed, it needs to be transformed,” but exactly how to do that can be a tough question to ask. It seems that the educational system has molded itself to meet the requirements of standardized testing, and in that fashion it would seem that if we first changed the content of the standardized tests that educational systems would soon follow. Colleges, universities, and trade schools also need to rely less on the ACT and SAT. Interviews, recommendations, and essays should be of greater importance because they represent more of who you really are versus bubbles on a scantron. Another universal change that needs to be made is the hierarchy of subjects. The arts are instrumental to this new conceptual age, and we need to begin treating art as if it is as important as current core subject such as math and science. When choosing classes, there needs to be more encouragement and acceptance of artistic choices. There also need to be more artistic choices available as core classes and not add ons. Many students are discouraged from taking chorus, drama, speech, and improv because it is an after school or add on activity that often results in the loss of a lunch period. It also seems that when entering higher-level sciences and mathematics, kids should be able to opt out if they do not feel passionate about them. It does seem that sometimes interests form due to the fact that they were forced to take the class, but it seems rare and avoidable by some sort of system to identify students that seem to truly know what they want to do with their lives versus students still searching. The current mandate of having four years of high school English is appropriate based on it being an essential part of all occupations and future endeavors. Also, right brain thinking can be greatly aided with exposure to literature.

Change is always hard, but it is inevitable and utterly necessary in the case of education. The world is changing and in order to give the next generation the best possible tools for success, something has to change. The time has come for students to be valued for the content of their character instead of the quantity of their scores. In this new age, we must honor the benefits of our abundance and begin giving our youth the greatest gifts of all: untouchabilities.