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@@ -8,13 +8,56 @@ name: title
Charles McGarvey
+???
+- I work at Bluehost as a software developer.
+- I don't really have any background in psychology.
+- Most of what I know about how to deal with introverts I learned from how my friends, family, and
+ coworkers deal with me.
+ - I am an introvert.
+ - In other words, I extrospect the actions of others and how they relate to me in order to
+ understand my own introspecting nature.
+- I'll talk a little bit more about me towards the middle of my presentation.
+
+- How many of you think you're introverted?
+- How many of you think you're extroverted?
+
---
## Agenda
- Answer "What is introversion?"
-- Talk about communication.
-- Explore practical ways to effectively work with introverts.
+- Develop an understanding of why people act as they do.
+- Learn ways to cope with your own introversion.
+- Identify the challenges inherent in working with introverts.
+- Explore practical ways to effectively deal with introverts.
+
+???
+- Define introversion
+- Use our defined terms to better understand why people act as they do.
+- Learn ways to cope with introversion (if you are introverted).
+- Identify and solve workplace issues that may hinder introverts.
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+
+## Disclaimers
+
+???
+### I like introverts and extroverts equally well.
+
+- I may not give both types equal air time.
+- I am an introvert and have that bias.
+- I know and respect many extroverts a ton.
+- Both different strengths and weaknesses.
+- Both complete each other.
+- World is completed by having the two types.
+
+Also,
+
+- I will be making some broad generalizations.
+- I know not everyone fits in the box I'm going to ascribe to them.
+- I otherwise don't actually expect to say anything offensive.
---
@@ -32,6 +75,24 @@ Charles McGarvey
Source: [Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/introversion)
]
+???
+### Introverts are selfish, right?
+- Introverts are self-centered, self-occupied, self-obsessed, self-serving selfish people.
+- At least we're not usually exhibitionists.
+- I think this description is not necessarily unfair. Introverts are kinda selfish.
+- At least, I can see why introverts may be perceived as such.
+- Why don't introverts speak up and share their ideas during meetings and conversations?
+ - Maybe they're not team players?
+ - Maybe they're keeping the best ideas for themselves?
+ - Maybe they don't like us?
+ - Nobody really knows what they're thinking because they never speak up, so it's anybody's best guess.
+
+-The bottom line is that introverts are just hard to work with, right?
+
+- People work in and across businesses by working together.
+ - They communicate.
+ - Barriers to communication are frustrating because it wastes time.
+
---
class: center, middle
@@ -43,6 +104,482 @@ name: dilbert-energy-drain
DILBERT © 2013 Scott Adams. Used By permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.
]
+???
+### Let's continue defining introversion
+
+- How many of you understand what Dilbert is talking about here?
+ - Raise of hands -- don't worry, I won't be calling on anyone.
+
+- By the way, those who are fans of Dilbert may have noticed the mouth. Scott Adams usually doesn't
+ draw Dilbert with a mouth unless he is eating or in great distress. There are relatively few
+ comics of Dilbert with a mouth, and this one has the mouth twice.
+
+---
+
+## What is introversion?
+
+> The strongest distinguishing characteristic of introverts is their energy source: Introverts draw
+> energy from their *internal world* of ideas, emotions, and impressions. They are energy
+> conservers. They can be easily overstimulated by the external world, experiencing the
+> uncomfortable feeling of "too much." [...] They need to limit their social experiences so they
+> don't get drained.
+>
+> -- Marti Olsen Laney, pg. 19
+
+???
+### Better definition
+
+- Nine years ago, read book by Marti Olsen Laney, a doctor of psychology, called "The Introvert
+ Advantage"
+- This description of introversion resonated with me.
+- It's still the way I like to think about introversion, both in an abstract sense as well as in
+ practical terms in "managing" my own introversion.
+
+STORY
+
+- I am a team lead at my company.
+- That means that get to solve technical problems and write code
+- It's also my responsibility to lead, manage, and mentor other developers.
+- A lot of my non-coding time is spent in meetings and working with my teammates.
+- I help them gain knowledge, and make sure they have what they need to succeed.
+- Some days I get to code all day; I lock the door and program! I love those days.
+- Other days I'm working with my teammates all day and don't write any code.
+- I love those days, too, but there is a huge difference in the level of mental fatigue I feel at
+ the end of each type of day.
+- On the days that I spend all day working on complex programming problems, I get home and feel great.
+- On the days that I spend all day working with people, I'm totally wiped out.
+- Can any of you relate to this?
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+
+## Introverts and Extroverts
+
+#### There is a biological difference.
+
+???
+- I really don't know much about how brains work, but I do understand that personality and
+ temperament doesn't come from nowhere. Personality develops, but it's also not something
+ completely environmental. Brains of introverts and extroverts actually work slightly differently,
+ and it's not a learned difference, it's a biological difference.
+
+- The difference may have something to do with neural pathways and neurotransmitters, making
+ introverts more sensative to Dopamine and thus more prone to getting overstimulated by less
+ stimulus than is required for extroverts.
+
+- I don't know how settled the science is in this regard. Let me just say that according to my
+ research and best information right now, there are at least partially understand biological
+ differences between introverts and extroverts.
+
+- I bring it up because understanding is the first step to identifying and solving problems.
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+
+## Human personality spans many spectrums.
+
+Introversion/extroversion make up one of those spectrums
+
+???
+### Another perhaps-obvious point
+
+Human personality spans many spectrums. It isn't black and white. You're not really either an
+introvert or an extrovert; you exist somewhere in between.
+
+---
+
+## Differences between Introverts and Extroverts
+
+1. Energy creation
+2. Response to stimulation
+3. Approach to knowledge and experience
+
+???
+### Dr. Laney defined three differences
+
+- Introverts gain energy from inside themselves, by being alone and recharging by themselves ("down
+ time") while extroverts gain energy from social interaction and other external stimulii.
+
+- Introverts retreat inwardly from too much stimulation. Extroverts run the risk of being
+ *under*stimulated and need to get enough stimulation externally to not get too bored.
+
+- Introverts go for depth of knowledge in particular fields that interest them. Extroverts go for
+ a breadth of knowledge, learning perhaps as much information but in more areas.
+
+---
+
+## What *isn't* introversion?
+
+- Abusive nerds on the Internet
+- Aspergers
+- Autism
+- Social awkwardness
+- Social anxiety (shyness)*
+
+???
+Separate the condition from the apparent or supposed results.
+
+- It's not aspergers or autism.
+- Rage quitting and abusive nerds online.
+- Social awkwardness.
+- Depression, [social] anxiety, stress, shyness, energy level, self esteem.
+- Aloofness, selfishness, stuck up, self-absorbed.
+
+There are studies that indicate a positive correlation between introversion and social anxiety. This
+may possibly be explained by the fact that extroverts just get more experience talking with people.
+
+Despite introversion not necessarily being associated with these particular conditions, that are
+difficult to deal with, introversion by its nature does create a need for some special
+consideration within organizations.
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+
+## So, how *do* we deal with introverts?
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+
+## Ignore them!
+
+???
+### Ignore them
+
+- "Ain't nobody got time for that!"
+- Introverts are slow and don't communicate very well.
+- Maybe don't hire them or just try to avoid them.
+- Introversion is not a Title VII protected class.
+- I'm not aware of any companies that do or have ever tried to do this.
+- This isn't viable for tech companies or any organizations really.
+- By some recent studies, as much as 50% of people are introverted.
+- How can there be that many introverts? Well, remember that our personality actually exists
+ somewhere along a spectrum. Also, many introverts just learn to act like extroverts; from
+ a young age they mimic social behavior around them and may never realize they're introverted.
+
+--
+No.
+
+???
+### Yeah, that's just silly.
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+
+## Go all in[troverts]!
+
+???
+- So, if we can't ignore them, should we prefer them?
+
+- The trouble with that, is extroverts are valuable. Extroverts have tons of valuable skills.
+
+- Also, there's not a lot of conclusive evidence to suggest that introverts work better with other
+ introverts than with extroverts. There may be fewer interpersonal conflicts, but there also can be
+ a lot of communication *not* actually happening.
+
+- Extroverts are really good at facilitating conversation.
+
+--
+No.
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+
+## Learn to get along!
+
+???
+- Let's instead keep both introverts and extroverts and instead learn how to communicate and get
+ along with each other.
+
+- Then we can keep the advantages of both types!
+
+--
+Yes!!
+
+---
+
+class: my-story
+
+## Dealing with your own Introversion
+
+???
+I wouldn't say that my story is unique at all.
+
+I learned of and then became interested in understanding introversion when I was at a point in my
+life where I was trying to understand myself. When I was growing up, I was often frustrated that
+I wasn't more like my extrovert peers. I enjoyed and had fun with my friends -- fortunately for me,
+my friends enjoyed many introverted activities -- but I also enjoyed (read: needed) down time, and
+I was ashamed of that difference. That was at least one part of my personality that I identified as
+an undesirable trait.
+
+Unfortunately, I often made the mistake of caring what my peers thought of me, because all kids do
+care about that, and that had some effect on my self esteem. It was worse than that, though: I made
+the far-more foolish mistake of believing in and caring what I *thought* my peers thought of me.
+
+My life experience made me uncomfortable being me, which is awful because I wasn't about to be
+anyone else. After I realized how silly I was being by putting so much weight behind what others may
+have thought about me, my discomfort left and I was able to be happy again.
+
+--
+> Stress is caused by inconsistency between a person's belief and their actions. It is also the gap
+> between what a person wants to do or feels like he or she needs to do and what that person is
+> actually doing or able to do.
+
+???
+I think this experience, to varying degrees, is shared by many people of a variety of personality
+types. If you can relate to the experience I shared and are still clinging to the false idea that
+your self-worth should be unhealthily tightly coupled with what others think of you (or what you
+imagine others think about you), please let go of that notion! This is the most important thing you
+could take away from this presentation.
+
+But don't mistake me: I'm not saying that you should have no care at all for what other people think
+of you. That would also be a sad and unfortunate way to live. As with most things, you need
+a balance. Caring how others regard you will help you accept criticism when it is founded, and the
+balanced perspective will help you reject baseless criticism.
+
+For all the introspecting that introverts are supposed to be doing, they can be really bad at
+viewing themselves accurately. Poor self-esteem affects introverts and extroverts alike. It's often
+caused by bad assumptions going in, so even introverts can't come to more enlightened conclusions by
+themselves. Thoughts like "I am not a good person" attach themselves deeply within the mind, and
+once they grab hold they're hard to shake.
+
+So, bottom line: if you are not comfortable in your own skin, make a change. Get a new perspective.
+If you are introverted, there are simple things that you can do to "manage" your introversion.
+
+--
+
+- Learn and understand how *you* function.
+
+???
+There's no point being an introvert if you're not going to actually introspect, so choose to study
+more about how you work. If this presentation is the first time you've learned about introversion,
+then this is a good start, but there is a lot more that you can learn about yourself.
+
+--
+- Stay on top of your schedule so you don't run out of energy.
+
+???
+- If you know you will be around people, compensate be carving out time in your schedule to rest up.
+- Try to keep an energy reserve in case you need it for unexpected events.
+
+--
+- Know and respect your limits.
+
+???
+This one may be a bit controversial, but I think it's true.
+- People like to think they're unlimited, but people have limits -- yes, they do -- and it's not bad
+ to acknowledge that if you're honest with yourself.
+- Don't feel bad by saying "no" to some social events.
+
+--
+- Work outside of your "comfort zone" on your terms.
+
+???
+Now, I don't particularly like the phrase "comfort zone." It's bandied around constantly, but little
+time is spent considering whether or not doing so has real benefits that the any of us should care
+about. It may be beneficial, but we all seem to have this assumption that we all should be breaking
+out of our comfort zones, but should we really all be striving to do that? Yes and no.
+
+- To the extent that we get personal growth out of stepping outside of our "comfort zones," then it
+ is worthwhile.
+- To the extent that being outside of our "comfort zones" makes us hate our lives, then it's not
+ a good thing.
+- So, we should be striving for personal growth, but we can do that growth on our own terms. Usually
+ when somebody brings up "comfort zones," it's because they're trying to get you to do something,
+ maybe out of good intentions, but you're smart enough to make a conscious decision for yourself
+ whether or not stretching yourself at that time will be good for you or not.
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+name: picard
+
+
+
+Source: [The Pegasus](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Pegasus), Star Trek TNG
+
+???
+- This is my favorite introvert.
+- There are actually a lot of awesome introverts that have risen to prominence and even become
+ role-models to many. I'm not going to talk about them, but it's fun to watch people and look for
+ signs that may indicate where they're at on the introversion/extroversion spectrum.
+- My favorite example of an introvert is a fictional character. The writers of Star Trek TNG did
+ a fantastic job at creating and developing this interesting yet very introverted character. There
+ are signs that Sir Patrick Stewart himself may lean toward introversion, and that may be why he
+ was also able to play the part so well.
+- Anyway, this is Captain Picard putting on a not-entirely-convincing smile for "Captain Picard Day"
+ on the Enterprise. His duties on this day include meeting with children on the ship and judging
+ their class projects.
+- By the way, Captain Picard Day is a real thing, I recently found out. Apparently it's celebrated
+ on June 16th of each year.
+
+- How many of you introverts have found yourself in a similar position? Out of energy but still
+ putting on a smile at a social event, hoping your smile is at least somewhat convincing?
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+
+## Put Into Practice
+
+???
+Introverts don't need to be coddled. Certain individuals (introvert or extrovert) may feel they need
+that, but introverts don't inherently need that. In fact that may be very anti-productive. Because
+of the energy requirements of introverts, they do need special consideration, that's true. But not
+coddling.
+
+These things are meant to create an environment or the right conditions to make it more likely for
+introverts to succeed and be happy in the workplace.
+
+Some of these things can simply be added to your processes or routines in order to get the benefit.
+
+However, to the extent that any of these things conflict or interfere with the needs of extroverts
+or take away from the conditions that allow extroverts to succeed, some compromise will need to be
+reached.
+
+---
+
+## Communication
+
+--
+- Let people choose how they communicate with you.
+
+???
+Even though an introvert may not be at her best during face-to-face communication, she may do just
+fine at other types of communication. Email, intranet chat, things like that are much less
+stimulating and give introverts plenty of time to gather their thoughts and formulate proper
+responses.
+
+Introverts can be so good at those types of communication, you may not even realize they're
+introverted. (Until you meet them face to face. Then it may become painfully obvious. It's like: you
+were so articulate and well-spoken in your email, and here you can barely string two sentences
+together!)
+
+---
+
+## Meetings
+
+--
+- Don't put introverts on the spot.
+
+???
+Try not to put introverts "on the spot". You'll likely get either a blank expression in return or
+much fumbling of words.
+
+--
+- Seed the discussion.
+
+???
+- This may be general good advice for anyone leading a meeting.
+- Seed the discussion with enough context and detail to make sure everyone is on the same page.
+
+--
+- Send out a list of things attendees should think about and plan before the meeting.
+
+--
+- Make sure everyone knows what will be expected of them.
+
+???
+- Goes back to the idea that introverts don't appreciate being put on the spot.
+
+--
+- Encourage introverts to write down their ideas.
+
+???
+In a meeting or other social setting, you'll likely find the introverts there may seem to not be
+participating. What may be happening is that they may be having deeper thoughts than the extroverts.
+This does take time, though, so they're probably lagging behind in the conversation, and by the time
+they have something really interesting to say, they may find the conversation topic has moved on, so
+they may not ever share their thought.
+
+You can either ask at the end of the meeting if the introverts in the room have anything to add
+about anything discussed, or maybe just tell them to email their ideas later, perhaps after they
+have had even more processing time.
+
+--
+- Leave gaps in your conversation.
+
+???
+Introverts don't like to interrupt people, and sometimes extroverts engaging with each other fail to
+leave gaps in the conversation in which introverts feel like they can interject. Again, not all
+introverts have this issue, and some that do have it have trained themselves to interact more like
+extroverts in social settings.
+
+This may not work very well at first, so you may need to experiment and see what works to help your
+introvert(s) engage you more in conversation.
+
+--
+- Sometimes it's a good thing when introverts don't talk.
+
+???
+Introverts don't feel the need to say something unless it's important AND isn't already being said,
+so if extroverts happen to be covering all the important points in the conversation well enough,
+introverts may be content to sit back and let the extrovert say everything. So, if introverts aren't
+talking, that may be a sign that everything is cool.
+
+---
+
+## Deadlines
+
+--
+- Don't rush introverts.
+
+???
+Don't rush introverts. When you ask them a question that they don't immediately know the answer to,
+you may get a blank expression that may make you think that there is no thinking going on there, but
+they are thinking. Just be a little patient and you'll get a response eventually. If you're an
+introvert put on the spot, try to make some sort of indication that you are thinking and will
+respond. "Give me a second to think about that..."
+
+--
+- Limit the number of projects placed on introverts.
+
+???
+Introverts can handle complexity, but they do better when they can focus on one or two areas. More
+than this, and there is risk that the introvert will become overwhelmed and then be less effective.
+So keep the number of projects reduced. Introverts will still do good work on their projects, but
+they'll be less likely to feel overburdened.
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+name: open-office
+
+
+
+.copyright-disclaimer[
+[Office in London](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_office.jpg) © 2009 Phil Whitehouse. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
+]
+
+---
+
+## Atmosphere
+
+--
+- No open office design!
+
+???
+- Bad idea, Google!
+- It's just a bad fad that needs to go away sooner rather than later.
+
+--
+- Reduce stimulation.
+
+--
+- If you can, create private cubicles AND a common area for knowledge transfer.
+
+???
+Stimulation (note steril slides).
+
+Some introverts may be prone to not remembering "trivial" details... such as
+people's names. If you struggle with this, work on it. Sometimes you see
+somebody but you just don't care enough to actually see them. Start to care.
+
---
class: center, middle
@@ -54,6 +591,10 @@ name: dilbert-programming
DILBERT © 2015 Scott Adams. Used By permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.
]
+???
+- In the end, we introverts really aren't that complicated to work with, right?
+- Our needs are simple. Let us write code and create designs and manage servers in peace!
+
---
class: center, middle
@@ -85,9 +626,26 @@ Leave me feedback, if you want:
## Credits
.left[
+- Excerpts from [The Introvert Advantage](http://hiddengiftsoftheintrovertedchild.com/about-the-author/the-introvert-advantage/) by Marti Olsen Laney, Psy.D.
- DILBERT comic strips created by [Scott Adams](http://dilbert.com/), used by permission.
]
]
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+name: blank-stare
+
+
+
+---
+
+class: center, middle
+name: happy-to-stay-home
+
+
+
+"It's Saturday night, and I'm staying home!"
+