Encouraging Extroversion AND Introversion

I think that introverts are encouraged to act as extroverts because, as Susan Cain explained in the Ted Talk, today people emphasize the importance of being charismatic, outgoing, and even aggressive.  My whole life people have encouraged these qualities, whether it was in school, sports, or even just my social activities. I can recall many times when I thought, “why can’t I be as outgoing as this person?” or “why can’t I speak in front of people like that person?”.  Watching this Ted Talk however, gave me a new spin on things and it was that we need to stop teaching the introverts that they should strive to be like the extroverts.  That introversion can be a good thing and it can bring about just as much creativity as extroversion.  If we teach all kids to be extroverts, we’re going to be limiting their possibilities in the long run.  As Susan noted, many great leaders needed their solitude in order achieve all that they did.

Looking at Tuckman’s Developmental Stages Model, I feel that suppressing any member of a group would hinder the performing stage. This suppression can limit the creativity of the suppressed person and thus also the creativity of the whole group in the long run, which in turn would hinder it’s growth and possibilities. Specifically looking at the suppression of introverts, I see this as encouraging conformity by re-molding everyone in the group to act as an extrovert and conformity doesn’t lead to creativity or growth, but rather the contrasting qualities and ideas of the group will be the drivers of growth and change.

Oh and a little more about Susan Cain's views and a quick summary of the goals of her book can be watched here....

https://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=2Z5ZTDh6neQ

Dead Poet Society - Inspirational Takeaways

It only took a few minutes into the movie for me to realize that Dead Poet Society was going to be an inspiring one.  Specifically, I found most of the inspiration drawn from Mr. Keating and Neil Perry.

Mr. Keating was a unique kind of teacher, who challenged his students to think for themselves.  I think this is an important lesson to take with us, that we should, as he says in the movie, “constantly look at the world in a different way”.  This kind of thinking encouraged creativity, innovation, and most importantly growth.  For example, Todd started out shy and scared to speak in front of the class. However Mr. Keating was able to open him up, first with the on the spot poem in class and then eventually Todd had grown to be able to stand up for what he believed in, like in the end. I think that Mr. Keating’s class and lessons were a huge part in helping Todd reach this new strength and confidence in the end.

As for Neil, I was extremely saddened to find out he killed himself in the end, however I still look back to his character earlier in the movie as inspirational. I found him to be so full of life, hungry for adventure and just an overall charismatic person. One specific example of all of this that stands out the most to me was the scene of Neil and Todd in their room talking about acting and the club. First of all, I found Neil’s excitement, confidence and certainty in what he wanted to do and then going for it to be extremely motivational.  Then secondly, when Todd says he isn’t the kind of person people will listen to and Neil can’t fix that, I found Neil challenging him by saying “No” and “Don’t you think you could be?” to also be extremely inspiring.  He was, like Mr. Keating, encouraging Todd to grow, to realize that he wasn’t a lost cause and could be something more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUGlUTGK9LU

In case you wanted to watch the scene I m referring to one more time ^^^

Over all, the two lessons that resonated with me the most from Dead Poet Society were to keep trying to see the world in a different way and to question myself when I have doubts about what I can be!