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The link between personality and success (2021)

economist.com

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Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#21

>[extrovert] children who grow up in more prosperous homes are less likely to face the kind of stressful events that undermine self-confidence. Is extrovert synonymous with confident or that strongly correlated? Why should an introvert not be confident in themselves and their abilities? >Extraversion [...] is the state of primarily obtaining gratification from outside oneself. >Introversion is the state of being pred…

I wonder if extroverts appear more confident to others and the feedback makes them more confident.

Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#22

One of the most mind blowing thing I learnt recently is that there is not introvert, extrovert and these kind of traits present within a person. They are equivalent to the typing we use in Computer Science/Mathematics defined by psychologist to study behaviors. As certain objects can fall under multiple type, each individual do not have a type but exhibit certain behavior of so defined type. As a result, it allows ps…

I share your opinion. I know few salespeople that are calm and introvert during our private gatherings and actively talk non stop while selling. Like two personalities in one body.

Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#23
post #6

Interesting but not entirely convincing link between being introverted or extroverted and self confidence. That probably deserves a little more nuance. Confidence in which ability? I'd like to read more on that.

In my opinion, it's self confidence that other people want to hear what you have to say. Introverts are more likely to wait for others to prompt them or invite them into the conversation whereas extroverts will start talking with the confidence that they have something to add to the conversation. I wonder if it's similar to this article about the church of interruption. https://sambleckley.com/writing/church-of-inter…

> Introverts are more likely to wait for others to prompt them or invite them into the conversation

I won't pretend to speak for all introverts, but for me it's not at all a matter of waiting for an invitation (why should I ever?), but rather that I need to choose the conversations carefully, because they drain rather than energize me. I have a number of conversations "available" each day before I'm drained and need to recharge by - what makes me an introvert - not interacting with people.

But if the subject at hand is interesting or important enough, I will absolutely partake in the discussion and will absolutely not wait for an invitation. Self confidence has exactly nothing to do with me being an introvert.

Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#24

If we put together every study and opinion piece on what makes success and combined them into one genetically modified ideal human it would be like watching a twitching, drooling maniac trying to do everything all at once. I don't think there is success formula for an individual - just that if the termites nest of humanity throws enough bodies at the wall, one will bounce through. It's not purely luck. But I think th…

There was a study asking men to select the female face they found the most attractive. The researchers then tried to create the ideal female look. However, they just ended up creating something very close to the average of all faces in their database.

The key to success is to know your weaknesses and compensate for them by hiring the right people, combined with a large amount of luck. For example Mark Zuckerberg didn't deliver a marvel of Engineering when he developed what would later become Facebook. He was just there at the right time and place.

Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#25

>[extrovert] children who grow up in more prosperous homes are less likely to face the kind of stressful events that undermine self-confidence. Is extrovert synonymous with confident or that strongly correlated? Why should an introvert not be confident in themselves and their abilities? >Extraversion [...] is the state of primarily obtaining gratification from outside oneself. >Introversion is the state of being pred…

I would assume that extroverts, trying to obtain gratification from outside themselves, boast out with ideas, opinions and the like much more easily than introverts and are thus perceived as more confident. Confident as in "I am confident in myself, hence I say this thing out loud". An introvert may say that thing out in his/her head and leave it at that, so no perception can be made from outside.

Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#26

If we put together every study and opinion piece on what makes success and combined them into one genetically modified ideal human it would be like watching a twitching, drooling maniac trying to do everything all at once. I don't think there is success formula for an individual - just that if the termites nest of humanity throws enough bodies at the wall, one will bounce through. It's not purely luck. But I think th…

Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, according to the legend, would skip computer science classes to later ace the tests. So, by all accounts, they are brilliant - and driven, but if you look at their background, they are also the people who won the birth lottery.

Bill Gates was an impossible child who was shoved into an ultra-lux boarding school that happened to have a computer. Zuckerberg does not know the life outside of Westchester, Harvard, and his compound in California.

How many brilliant people are out there who have to waste their brilliance on not taking risks? On just making sure they can pay rent?

We all want to go to the Moon, but some people are born in orbit to get a solid head start, and the rest need to overcome gravity first, before they even get a shot.

Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#27
I am an INTJ and ENTJ depending on the day of the test. This makes sense. I’m an only child who is very social as an adult. In fact my career is sort of a hybrid:

As a proposal specialist, I had to master a large skill set of technology and workflows - Office, Adobe, CRM, and print production all on deadlines - but those are able to be controlled, whereas the human element - sales team, SMEs, subconsultants, and other team members - is completely different.

I suppose that’s why in the past 12 months the proposal coordinator / manager / specialist / writer jobs have changed drastically. From 20% remote full time to 60% remote full time jobs. Salary range bumped from $65-80k to $90-115k for same role and years of experience. There is a TON of burnout in this gig, because of the dichotomy of control yet no authority.

Basically though in my experience an INTJ and ENTJ combo is what you need at the top of the leadership pyramid to both do the important work and keep the schedule, and use people skills to inspire or compel contributions. “It’s a &$”@ing tightrope, Spud’

Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is attributing success to a single individual. Tesla and Amazon have thousands of employees but people only remember Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

Yes. Plus the capital structure massively over emphasises this. I am definitely not for throwing out the industrial revolution baby with the Victorian capital structure bath water, but looking at the robber barons that crop up with each generation I wonder if there is a different way of allocating capital, decentralised decision making that can more properly / equally reward effort and contribution. Giving almost all…

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Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#29

If we put together every study and opinion piece on what makes success and combined them into one genetically modified ideal human it would be like watching a twitching, drooling maniac trying to do everything all at once. I don't think there is success formula for an individual - just that if the termites nest of humanity throws enough bodies at the wall, one will bounce through. It's not purely luck. But I think th…

The only thing that really works is being at the right place, at the right time, knowing the right people… and/or sheer luck.

This I can affirm as well after years of personal study. Some are self-aware and humble, others, well, let them have their little reality distortion field. As long as it doesn’t seep into my “you know back in 1990 when I was alive and sentient there was still the threat of global nuclear war” context of history at any given point in time.

Re: The link between personality and success (2021)

#30

On the fourth paragraph: > The study also found that the children of professionals were more likely to be extrovert. I have a hard time grasping who they meant by "professionals", and who they meant to exclude by the implied antonym ("not professionals").

-- a professional is someone who practices in a profession - historically professionals were lawyers and doctors - the term has been expanded somewhat - typically well educated working in a field that has established and adhered to practises --

Correct, the term has been diluted. There were only four or five true professions until modern language usage made it generic.
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