It’s Sunday morning and I’m in my favourite place – my office. It’s warm and cosy. I’m surrounded by personal artefacts that have great meaning. I have plants and ambient lighting. I have a window and I can see trees and bushes and I can hear the birds on my roof. I have my books and my notepads and pens. I have music and my computer and I am doing the things that give me most joy (alongside swimming, which is my other love) – reading, learning and writing. My creative brain is alive and the possibilities endless.

I have just watched a TED talk by Susan Cain (2012) on the power of introverts and my heart came alive at the words, ‘put yourself in the zone of stimulation that works for you’. This……this place and this time is my place of stimulation and I love it. I love my solitude where I can think and contemplate and create.

But I am also a little frustrated. I am frustrated because consistently and persistently people tell me to ‘go out more’ ‘do more’ ‘be with people more’. But these things do not bring me pleasure. I usually just spend my time looking at the time, wondering when I can escape. I’m not shy, I don’t fear social judgement. Nor am I antisocial. I don’t hate people and there is nothing wrong with me. I just prefer my own zone of stimulation – my comfortable places where I can quietly contemplate.

I am often expected by others to be loud, prominent, be the talker in the room and yes, at times, I have to be this person to be able to do my work. This is not, however, my zone of comfort. As a systems thinker, I am cognizant of embracing multiple perspectives. So, who is considering my perspective? Who is allowing the more introverted systems thinkers to shine? Who is asking them what they think? Not many, I can tell you. Instead the masses prefer those with a charismatic personality, the talkers who seem to be taking action. But action without contemplation, as Cain (2012) tells us is not always the best way and those with the biggest voices are not generally those who get the best result.

So what happens when an introvert creates something exciting or gets big results? Disbelief, that’s what. People didn’t see where it came from, so they can’t believe it. Sadly, this is a common thing to see in workplaces. The challenge I put forward today is, who is listening to the introverted systems thinkers? Who is appreciating their creativity and who is inviting them in, in a way that works for them, rather than it only working for you? Imagine how much you are missing if you don’t create the right conditions for a more diverse group of thinkers, whose creativity emerges in different ways.

Reference Cain, S. (2012) The power of introverts Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts?subtitle=en