RSA Shorts (and more) - Susan Cain: The Power of Quiet

RSA Shorts is a new series of animated videos based on popular talks delivered at The RSA. This talk by Susan Cain is from March of this year (2012). She is the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. At least one-third of us are introverts, and we often get drowned out or shouted down by our more extroverted peers - but this need not be the case. Good leadership values each character type equally and makes space for both.

RSA Shorts - Susan Cain: The Power of Quiet

The world is full of noise and those that are the loudest are the ones we tend to follow but what about the quiet ones?

Author Susan Cain shines a spotlight on introverts and reveals how over time our society has come to look to extroverts as leaders. Not suggesting that one is better than the other, Susan argues that the world needs an equal space between introverts and extroverts; that an innovative, creative world wouldn't be the same without the two coming together.

Speaker: Susan Cain

Artist: Molly Crabapple
Director: Jim Batt
Production Coordinator: Kim Boekbinder

Watch the longer highlight video of her talk:

Susan Cain - Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking

In an increasingly social world, author Susan Cain argues that we undervalue the power of the introvert at our peril. How can organisations ensure that the best ideas dominate, rather than those of the most vocal and assertive people?

Susan Cain is in conversation with Jon Ronson, journalist, humourist and documentary maker.

Listen the full podcast with audience questions:

Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking

27th Mar 2012; 13:00
Listen to the audio
(full recording including audience Q&A)

RSA Keynote
Our society rewards the extrovert, the assertive, the charismatic, and the vocal. But as many as one third of us are introverts. For years, this entire section of the population has been told that the very foundation of their personality is a character flaw. As a result, the introvert has become the eternal underdog, and most of us are taught to repress, not nurture, our introverted tendencies.

Why do we place so much value on volume? And what if we’ve been wrong all along?

Susan Cain, author of a ground-breaking new book: 'Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking', visits the RSA to explain how society misunderstands and undervalues introverts, and how the extrovert bias affects our lives, from the financial crisis to the myth of charismatic leadership in business; from the way we work (job postings asking for “outgoing” personalities, open plan offices, and the ubiquitous “brainstorm”), to the way we raise and educate our children.

Join us for this special event when Susan Cain will be in conversation with Jon Ronson, journalist, humourist and documentary maker.