Quote by Allen Shawn: "A species in which everyone was General Patton would not succeed, any more than would a race in which everyone was Vincent Van Gogh... It needs those who can devote to studying how many droplets of water are secreted by the salivary glands of dogs under which circumstances."
Quiet Leaders Outperform
Those who worked with these leaders tended to describe them with the following words: quiet, humble, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, understated... We don't need giant personalities to transform companies. We need leaders who build not their own egos but the institutions they run.
Leadership Style Matters
Introverted leaders had the exact opposite results... Because of their inclination to listen to others and lack of interest in dominating social situations, introverts are more likely to hear and implement suggestions.
Solitude Breeds Talent
According to the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, teens who are too gregarious to spend time alone often fail to cultivate their talents because "practicing music or studying math requires a solitude they dread."
Top Performances Need Uninterrupted Work Time
Top performers overwhelmingly worked for companies that gave their workers the most privacy... 76% of the worst performers... said that people interrupted them needlessly.
Multitasking Is Myth
Even multitasking, the prized feat of modern-day office workers, turns out to be a myth. Scientists now know that the brain is incapable of paying attention to two things at the same time.
Groups Kill Creativity
People provide better ideas when brainstorming alone. However, people believe they did better when operating as a group.
Observation Impairs Performance
People consistently perform worse in all areas when being observed... Those in groups triggered higher decision-making less and more in the area of perception, meaning peer pressure.
Flow Exists Between Boredom and Anxiety
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi said: "Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person's capacity to act."
Patience Enables Mastery
Wozniak says: "I acquired a central ability that was to help me through my entire career: patience... I learned not to worry so much about the outcome, but to concentrate on the step I was on and try to do it as perfectly as I could when I was doing it."
