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Singing the praises of the unsung heroes

Tory Shepherd

by Tory Shepherd

27 Jan 05:45am

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Filed under: Australia Day, Australian Of The Year, Extroverts, Introverts, Personality, Society

40 comments

The world is ruled by extroverts. The loudest voices, unsurprisingly, are often the only ones we hear.

Go away, please. I'm having a quiet think. Pic: Ray Strange

The Australia Day honours are meant to pay tribute to the unsung heroes, thereby making them sung.

While the most attention is too often given to the already well-sung - celebrities, the actors and the sportspeople who make the list - there are also the local heroes, the young and the senior Australians.

Many of them we don’t know now, but hopefully we will. Like the utterly remarkable Donald Ritchie, last year’s local hero. Over five decades Mr Ritchie lived across from notorious suicide spot, The Gap, a cliff in Sydney’s East. When he spotted someone preparing to jump, he’d offer them a smile and a cup of tea, and saved over 160 lives.

But, you know, Geoffrey Rush is pretty amazing too.

It’s just a bit of a shame that he will steal most of the spotlight, while the quiet achievers lurk in the wings.

A new book whispers the virtues of the quiet ones, the introverts, and calls for a ‘quiet revolution’, a taking back of the world from the extroverts.

In Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, author Susan Cain says it’s the quiet ones who can change the world:

They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled “quiet,” it is to introverts that we owe many of the great contributions to society – from van Gogh’s sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer.

Cain told the Scientific American that society has created an ‘ideal self’ that is bold, loud, ‘out there’. Introverts (whom she distinguishes from shy people) feel inferior, so they become fake extroverts, and the cycle continues.

So in workplaces we organise into groups to outshout each other, and meetings to out perform each other, and we sit in open plan offices with no escape into the solitude of our own brains. She calls this the ‘New Groupthink’: “Lone geniuses are out. Collaboration is in.”

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s latest exercise, her butcher-paper brainstorming session (an echo of her predecessor’s mega-brainstorm), is a prime example of groupthink.

Cain says there is plenty of evidence we’d be better off on our own, just getting things done.

She looks at Asian-American students, who are alienated from the brash extrovert world. She points to the introverts like Gandhi, Steve Wozniak, and Rosa Parks, people who achieved what they did because of their introversion, not despite it.

She has even developed a manifesto, a 16-point guide to helping introverts triumph. Which seems a little extroverted, to be honest.

But maybe it is time we paid a little more attention to the quiet ones, and a little less to those who bang on in public … oh, I see. Right.

Excuse me, I’m just going to go over here and have some time on my own. 

Twitter: @ToryShepherd

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40 comments

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    • Fred says:

      05:54am | 27/01/12

      Besides curing cancer and a few other things, like baldness, what needs to be invented? Nothing. Oh ok, the electric car, but they’re obviously keeping that under wraps until the oil runs out, if it ever does.

      A lot of the quiet ones have gone on to become investment bankers and they screwed the world up. I think all this talk is a collective subconscious and conscious attempt at finding a path for society, and I think for the most part it’s worked. Or maybe not.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      06:08am | 27/01/12

      @Fred
      At the time of the great exhibition at the end of the 19th century, it was generally believed that we had invented everything that could be invented ?  Are you saying the same thing?  I bow to your great wisdom !

    • Fred says:

      08:31am | 27/01/12

      Yeah acotrel, pretty much, well I think we need to focus more on social engineering than engineering, to make the trains run on time and get rid of overpopulation. But I guess that’s just a pipe dream and would require facism.

    • fml says:

      08:46am | 27/01/12

      Nothing needs to be invented?

      Well guess all the scientists are out of jobs now. No wait, pretty much anybody in research.

    • YY says:

      09:32am | 27/01/12

      I want them to start working on personal teleporters, it would cut my commute right down and also cut out fuel consumption to lower our carbon footprint (I am only guessing this last part as I am not a scientist so have no idea what would be involved)

    • Cookie Monster says:

      11:19am | 27/01/12

      Fred - you are the very definition of small mindedness.

      Haha - you think investment bankers are introverts. I think you’re getting them confused with accountants.

    • TheRealDave says:

      11:35am | 27/01/12

      The Electric car was already invented and on the roads over 10 years ago. But suddenly they were all taken off the roads, scrapped, and laws brought in to mandate a percentage of all electric cars on the roads changd back. Google ‘Who Killed the Electric Car’ - pretty eye-opening stuff and I’m not one usually for conspiracy theory crap.

    • Wynston Cruso says:

      11:59am | 27/01/12

      “Besides curing cancer and a few other things, like baldness, what needs to be invented? Nothing.”

      This is a joke? That’s kind of the whole point of inventing - you don’t know what it is that needs inventing, because it hasn’t been invented yet. Wow.

    • Fred says:

      01:14pm | 27/01/12

      @Wynston Cruso
      No, idiot, the teleporter needs to be invented, we know exactly what it’s supposed to do. But it’s so unrealistic, and I’m not sure I’d want it to be invented, as it’s power could be very much abused. For instance invading countries could become a whole lot easier.

    • Wynston Cruso says:

      02:37pm | 27/01/12

      Ok Fred. No need to get angry and defensive. You’ve totally missed the point, and by your tone you’d be unwilling to discuss just how stupid your original comment was. If your opinion had been the dominant one in ancient times we never would have invented the wheel.

      So if nothing else needs to be invented, ever, I’m assuming then nothing will be right? No more vaccines, cures for countless diseases (there are more than just cancer), alternative means of transport, advances in technology. This is it is it Fred? The pinacle of human existence, we have nothing more to accomplish, our work here is done. Dumbass.

    • sunny says:

      08:32pm | 27/01/12

      @YY - they just need to perfect the Discombobulator-Recombobulator module and they’ll be good to go. Will be imperative to thoroughly check for flies inside the teleporter before using one though. And wise to take out Parallel-Universe Insurance too!

    • acotrel says:

      06:04am | 27/01/12

      ‘Groupthink’ is simply a way of describing the behaviour of opportunistic sycophants and other social climbing bottom kissers ! Some people feel the need to ‘fit in’ with their peer group by doing the cringe ! -(Too weak to stand up and be counted.)  It cost a few lives when it lead to the Bay of Pigs debacle during the Kennedy administration.

      Reply

    • Sam says:

      07:21am | 27/01/12

      Good to see some attention directed at those of us who dont speak up at meetings, in fact rarely even defend ourselves when some loudmouth moron decides ‘your wrong’ with no reasoning. Being an introvert myself certainly hasnt exactly catapulted me to great successes, however my results have always done the speaking that I cannot do, and so, I remain somewhat OK off

      Reply

    • Mike says:

      01:49pm | 28/01/12

      I believe that the ‘loud mouth moron’ would have decided that ‘you’re wrong’ instead.

    • marley says:

      07:27am | 27/01/12

      I’ve always understood the difference between introverts and extroverts not to be how loud you are, but where you get your inner strength from.  Introverts get it from within, extroverts from the people around them.  Both introverts and extroverts can be leaders, but the former are more inclined to rely on themselves, the latter on the “team.”  I don’t think there’s a right or wrong, a better or worse, to this - just too different ways of dealing with life and the world.

      Reply

    • Wayne Kerr says:

      07:59am | 27/01/12

      @marley

      Your definition comes from a HR system known as Myers-Briggs which is used to determine personalities in the workplace so a person can better manage themselves and other people.

      Extrovert and Introvert still can be defined as an outgoing and quiet person respectively.

    • Tom says:

      07:39am | 27/01/12

      Nice work Tory, ... “So in workplaces we organise into groups to outshout each other, and meetings to out perform each other, ” You just said it.

      There is a whole group-think lexicon out there: “can-do people”, “moving forward”, “team players”, “positive culture” ... Most of them translate fairly readily into a single category, “arse lickers”.

      Reply

    • Wynston Cruso says:

      12:07pm | 27/01/12

      I liked this article also. Had to have a good look around the office when reading it, as it’s very much a reflection of government departments. Team leaders and the people who win awards are the extroverts who use buzz words, ‘moving forward’ makes me dry reach, but it’s the introverts who get shit done, because they’re not all trying to out wank talk each other. I dread going to brinstorming sessions with the group thinkers, it actually makes me want to kick something really cute, but I can never think of anything cute enough.

      Good work Tory - see I don’t disagree with everything you write just because I’m a jerk smile

    • blogster says:

      08:05am | 27/01/12

      Good to see you acknowledge introvesion appropriately tory.

      to be specific - introversion vs. extroversion is where someone gets their ENERGY from.  introverts are depleted by time around other people, ongoing loud noises, constant interaction with people.  extroverts gain energy from those situations.  introverts charge their batteries through solace and time alone.

      Reply

    • The Buzz says:

      08:08am | 27/01/12

      As someone who uses psychometric tooling to help people understand theirs and other’s personalities, I agree mostly with your tome, Tory. I’m also a very loud extrovert. It’s helped me write, perform, present and express ideas and art that many introverts have loved and enjoyed. But I take no offence to your take on the issue. Just one thing to note. Introvertism and extrovertism, personality positions that indicate how people ‘prefer’ to get and use their energy in their lives, are NOT mutually exclusive. You see, the simple behavioural fact is that we all need to have ‘balanced’ personalities that use BOTH of these expressions of personality. This, in my trade, is known as ‘good type development’ (MBTI). I’ve also seen what I call ‘painful introverts’, people who are very inner-world, wreak untold havoc in other people’s lives, simply because they didn’t have the balance to express themselves in a semi-extroverted way. It cuts both ways. But I love the journalistic ability to get people talking, and thinking. In whichever way their personalities allow.

      Reply

    • TheJohn says:

      08:37am | 27/01/12

      Extroverts are insecure lemmings with nothing intelligent to do and say.
      Perfect example are little red dictatorial devils spewing their leftist commie puke.

      Reply

    • The Reconditioned Introvert. says:

      10:21am | 27/01/12

      Rubbish TheJohn.

      An extrovert has the guts to have his say and to put forth a challenging concept, even if it does run counter to the conservative principles you so obviously support.

      Your demand is that they all be quiet and let your conservative principles prevail unchallenged.

      Why didn’t you go down with your ship?

      Here, get a little class… http://www.youtube.com/user/militarywiveschoir?feature=watch

    • Al says:

      09:14am | 27/01/12

      Too bad it’s not considered discrimination to put an introverted employee into a position which requires them to display the characteristics of an extrovert.
      Thats my job for you.
      Despite telling them that having me deal with the public is NOT going to work well and will end in an increase in sick days, work did it anyway because I didn’t complain loudly enough.
      Anyone else see the problem with this attitude? (An introvert gets work in an extrovert area because they act like an introvert!)

      Reply

    • The Buzz says:

      10:06am | 27/01/12

      It’s not because you didn’t complain ‘loudly’ enough, it’s because you didn’t complain ‘effectively’ enough. And introverts don’t need to ‘act’ like extroverts. They need to develop a range of tools to deal with tasks like the one you have been asked to do.
      But to be fair, some people will NEVER be comfy with public acts like public speaking. Regardless of your personality type, it’s number 1 on the list for human fear.

    • marley says:

      10:15am | 27/01/12

      @Al - I’m an introvert, very much so.  In my mid 20s, I took on a job that required me to deal extensively with the public.  it was the best thing that ever happened to me.  I had to do it, I forced myself to do it, and I did do it - and in the process, I learned a lot of skills both for coping with my own inner stress and for interacting with people. 

      Ultimately, it made it easier for me to “connect” with others, so that my personal life became a happier place.  And it also gave me insights into managing others (being an introvert, I of course had to analyse what worked and what didn’t, because none of it came naturally).  I’m still an introvert, but I have no qualms about standing up in a room of 300 people and giving a speech, or contributing to, even leading, policy discussions, or managing reasonably large numbers of people.  A lot of this involves skill sets that can be learned. 

      Whether you want to learn it is another issue, of course, and whether you can deal with the stress is a factor that only you can know.  But I’m living proof that introverts can function very well in what would be considered on the face of it to be an extrovert position.

    • AJ says:

      01:34pm | 27/01/12

      I am most definitely introverted as i also had a number of jobs where i had to come out of myself a lot more. All i can say is that if i hadn’t had some of the earlier jobs i wouldn’t have been able to do the one i have now which i love. Being out of your comfort zone can be a great thing in the long run even if it’s a bit scary at first.

    • Richard says:

      10:12am | 27/01/12

      This is a really great article Tory, I’m glad you have given some praise and encouragement to the introverts of the world. I myself according to the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator Test am exactly on the cusp of being an introvert/extrovert. 50-50 (whilst being strongly NTP in the other categories). So I have some understanding of how rich and vibrant the inner world of introversion is for some people, how satisfying and exciting ones own thoughts and endogenous feelings can be.

      The challenge though for introverts is to find a way of articulating themselves meaningfully, in order to communicate the rich and vibrant feelings of their own inner worlds to others, and thus spread insight, joy and beauty amongst others.

      Reply

    • The Recycled Introvert says:

      02:46pm | 27/01/12

      It’s interesting that so many here seem to admire their own introversion. (If that’s what it really is.)

      This may NOT be so admired if we were to describe an introvert as one who sits on his hands and lets the other guy take the initiative for fear of being wrong.

      Or is the introvert perhaps a thinker, an analyst, who never gets to the result or is incapable of communicating his views or finding to his peers when he finally, if ever, comes to a decision?

      It appears that an extrovert won’t listen and an introvert can’t listen.

      I would beg to cast some doubt on the prospect that an introvert has a “rich and vibrant” disposition. In most cases they seem to rival bat-dropping in their vivacity.

    • marley says:

      07:00pm | 27/01/12

      @Recycled Introvert - what on earth has the ability to take the initiative got to do with introversion vs extroversion? 

      I’m an introvert. no two ways about it - but I’ve never had a problem making decisions or acting on them.  I differ from an extrovert only in that I may put more weight on my own thoughts and judgment of a situation, and less on those of the people around me.  But that has nothing to do with the capacity to reach that decision. Or to implement it.

      It’s quite true that I know introverts who are tortured by the thought of making a decision - they overthink things.  But then, I know a lot of gregarious people who couldn’t make a decision if their lives depended on it - there will always be one more person to consult, one more point of view to take into consideration, one more attempt to build total consensus. 

      The ability to make decisions, and to make good ones, has nothing to do with intro vs extroversion.  It’s a different quality entirely. 

      As for introverts not being able to listen, well of course we do.  We may not talk as much, but that doesn’t mean we don’t listen as much.

      And just so you know, “vivacity” and “rich and vibrant feelings” are not synonyms.  A lot of vivacious people of my acquaintance have all the emotional and intellectual depth of your average tree frog.

    • Richard says:

      11:21pm | 27/01/12

      Marley is quite right, introversion vis-a-vie extroversion does not refer to one’s propensity to be decisive. That would fall under the classification in the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator Typing as a function of the Judging/Perceiving axis.

      So therefore I would probably classify marley as an I(?)TJ, meaning that he is a deep and insightful thinker, and he has no troubles putting those thoughts in order and expressing them decisively, unlike me who, as an ENTP (on the cusp of INTP) can tend to be disorganised and erratic, and a procrastinator tongue laugh.

    • Kassandra says:

      11:10am | 27/01/12

      It’s in the nature of extroverts to seek and generally achieve greater attention from other people. There is another view of introversion/extroversion: that rather than being polar opposites or even a spectrum they are more like two sides of a coin, both always present but with side or the other more apparent to others. The loudest voices may be the ones we always hear, but then empty heads always make the loudest sound.

      Reply

    • kitteh says:

      12:34pm | 27/01/12

      Well said. For every vocal spokesperson there is always a quiet worker simply getting on with it. And yes, we don’t recognise them often enough - maybe they are too busy to seek recognition in the first place!

      Case in point: Catherine Hamlin versus Angelina Jolie. I know which name we would recognise, and which one actually is making a difference in the developing world.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      05:42pm | 27/01/12

      I don’t believe in this diatonic, that some are either naturally introverted, or extroverted.
      It seems a way of describing personality types a bit along the lines of whether you like big dogs or little ones, or whether you like bright colours or dark ones, eg. some like the dark ones because when you look at the bright ones afterwards, they’re now brighter ... which kinda wrecks the intended psychology.
      Differences or comparisons between two things should not really be relied upon in a Human Science as an explanation. Or even a description. With so much external stimuli nowadays, who knows what ‘personality’ actually is, or whether it is only from our Works that the substance of our natures can be understood.

      Twenty years ago I used to know briefly a Meteorologist from the Uni. of Melb. and every day he’d be over the road at the pub marking papers or writing up lecture note. He was supposed to have an IQ of around 180.
      He was, I’d reckon, an introvert. He was good at one thing, (and one thing only, as it turned out) because he had very limited interests, and I think that, if you were to describe an introvert, (and this is a better thing to do than to expect the description, as such, to explain anything) then I suppose such a person may possess particular gifts, where other personal qualities are not so pronounced.
      In short, introverts are nuts, and all yous better be kind to us, elsewise we’ll use those gifts to harness the white horses and Count Yorgas and terrorize the next Big day Out.

      Reply

    • TC says:

      11:56pm | 27/01/12

      I agree with this article. I have spent a lot of time working in different workplaces and find it is the brash self-promotoers, the “suck-ups” and “networkers” who become “friends” with the boss, all the while often being HOPELESS at their jobs that get the promotions/kudos. I actually don’t like loud/beash people. There, I have said it. Go the introverts!!

      Reply

    • TC says:

      12:00am | 28/01/12

      Interovert/extrovert…. it doesn’t matter!! ha ha ha

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      07:26pm | 28/01/12

      About unsung heroes ... I’d like to see our Prime Minister do something unusual and interesting, and ask our ‘Aussie’ Kim Klijsters to settle here.

      Kim is soon to retire, and she has a baby, and what better place to bring up a family than in Australia ?

      Come on Julia ; at least ask her.

      Reply

    • Dianne says:

      06:32pm | 07/02/12

      , I too was wnnrediog if that explicit warning was actually required. (is the loss of subtlety, the bane of being widely read? wink)But, not many have taken the article in it’s right spirit despite the warning being put up.Time for some personal reflection, actually :p.

      Reply

    • Don says:

      07:54am | 08/02/12

      When JKJ filpped through a book of common diseases in 1898, he discovered he had everything in it (including typhoid and cholera) except Housemaid’s Knee and Tennis Elbow. I suspect the Atlantic article will spark similar reactions of mass, spurious recognition. All sorts of extroverts who spend most of their time saying the equivalent of “Waanh” in various accents will now claim to be introverts in order to appear more interesting.  The genuine introverts will think sadly ” Oh bugger! Now I’m going to have to cope with sympathy as well” and exit the discussion and go feed their pet cats. What’s-his-face has described one specific personality - his own - and found a convenient label to type cast it.  Introversion is found across a far wider spectrum of personality types than the author’s own specific template. In passing, has it occurred to you that no true-blue American can be an introvert without feeling the guilt of repudiating the national motto: “We need to talk”. Tata DD

      Reply

    • David says:

      08:16pm | 10/02/12

      Hi Pat,thanks for sopntipg by! Thanks for the Twitter and Facebook follows   Introverts need to stick together!

      Reply

    • back says:

      01:45pm | 14/02/12

      Been reading this blog for awhile but i have been lazy to drop a comment and say thanks. That ends right now: Thanks mate!

      Reply
 
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