Why the ‘quiet’ types and introverts are a blessing
The article “Seniors: Our untapped national wealth,” (Commentary, 4/11/24) shared a wise recommendation for the participation of retired professionals to contribute to Philippine development. Aside from this demographic group, there is an unknown group of individuals with immense capabilities that can greatly contribute to Philippine development, the rare “quiet” types.
The quiet types are conventionally thought of as the ones associated with the saying “silent waters run deep” by society. They are seldom talked about because of their “silence” and most of us consider them as serious. Sadly, they are only noticed in most instances if they are the center of intrigues and gossip. There is also a preconceived idea that they are inferior to those who are hyperactive or the more sociable ones. They are generalized as introverts or those who are shy and less sociable. Normally, the “quiet” types do not follow the crowd or go with the herd. Instead, an exceptional number of them are highly satisfied with the quiet confidence or knowledge of their unique or rare ability to analyze, simplify, and find answers or solutions to almost everything around them as compared to most individuals.
Dr. Peter Drucker, the guru of modern management at the Claremont Graduate School of Management, during his 1999 Effective Decisions class, emphasized that “seeing something different is the beginning of wisdom. Intelligent and serious people see something different. They see reality but in a different dimension. They find solutions more than two or many sides.”
Meanwhile, diversity allowed people with different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and personalities including the quiet types, to express and share their ideas. This was the idea applied by Dr. Joel Podolny, former dean of Apple University, to generate ideas from different perspectives known as the interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approach, which is simply applying the combination of different disciplines to produce results.
In the book ”Quirky” by Dr. Melissa Schilling of New York University, Albert Einstein and Marie Curie were some of the unique individuals perceived to be quiet or introverts. However, as explained in the book, both are not quiet and are not introverts. It is more that they prefer to spend most of their time doing their interests and finding answers to their questions to benefit mankind. Thus, they have very limited time to socialize or simply talk to other individuals.
Keanu Reeves, one of the most admired celebrities in the world, is perceived to be low-key, quiet, or an introvert. Despite his fame and success as a celebrity, he is globally appreciated for his authenticity, simplicity, humility, good manners, and for treating anyone with kindness and respect regardless of their social status in life.
Cesar, a Filipino, tirelessly continued his work for others to have a better quality of life through development management work as a former academician and staff of the United Nations Development Program and professional practice even during his retirement. His wife Lucila also tirelessly went to communities such as Barangay Ugong in Pasig and inaccessible households and communities in the provinces, teaching children and women about proper health and nutrition.
We can just imagine how exciting it is to spend time with these quiet types to share ideas and learn their views on various aspects of life. More interesting, is how individuals, organizations, and countries can positively change their development trajectories if there are more of these quiet types.
Raymund Sisenando R. Mercado,
raymund_mercado@yahoo.com
