The power of introverts | Susan Cain | TED

Translator: Morten Kelder Skouboe Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

When I was nine years old,

Da jeg var ni år gammel,

I went off to summer camp for the first time.

tog jeg på sommerlejr for første gang.

And my mother packed me a suitcase full of books,

Min mor pakkede en kuffert for mig

fyldt med bøger,

which to me seemed like a perfectly natural thing to do.

hvilket virkede helt naturligt for mig.

Because in my family, reading was the primary group activity.

Fordi i min familie,

læste man, når man var sammen.

And this might sound antisocial to you,

Og dette lyder måske asocialt for jer,

but for us it was really just a different way of being social.

men for os var det bare en anden måde at være sammen på.

You have the animal warmth of your family sitting right next to you,

Man har den dyriske varme fra sin familie,

som sidder ved siden af,

but you are also free to go roaming around the adventureland

men man er også fri til at gå på eventyr

i sit eget sind.

inside your own mind.

And I had this idea

Og jeg havde den opfattelse,

that camp was going to be just like this, but better.

at lejren ville blive lige sådan, men bedre.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

I had a vision of 10 girls sitting in a cabin

Jeg forestillede mig 10 piger, der sad i en hytte

cozily reading books in their matching nightgowns.

og læste bøger i deres matchende natkjoler.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Camp was more like a keg party without any alcohol.

Lejr var mere som en drukfest uden alkohol.

And on the very first day,

Og på den allerførste dag

our counselor gathered us all together

samlede vores lejrleder os alle sammen,

and she taught us a cheer that she said we would be doing

og hun lærte os at heppe og sagde, vi skulle gøre det

every day for the rest of the summer to instill camp spirit.

hver dag resten af sommeren

for at indgyde sammenhold.

And it went like this:

Og det lød sådan her:

"R-O-W-D-I-E,

"L-A-A-A-R-M,

that's the way we spell rowdie.

sådan staver vi til larm.

Rowdie, rowdie, let's get rowdie."

Larm, larm, vi ska' larme."

(Laughter)

Yeah.

Ja.

So I couldn't figure out for the life of me

Jeg kunne slet ikke forstå,

why we were supposed to be so rowdy,

hvorfor vi skulle larme sådan,

or why we had to spell this word incorrectly.

eller hvorfor vi skulle stave ordet forkert.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

But I recited a cheer. I recited a cheer along with everybody else.

Men jeg heppede. Jeg heppede sammen med alle de andre.

I did my best.

Jeg gjorde mit bedste.

And I just waited for the time that I could go off and read my books.

Og jeg ventede bare på det tidspunkt,

hvor jeg kunne gå og læse mine bøger.

But the first time that I took my book out of my suitcase,

Men den første gang, jeg tog min bog ud af min kuffert,

kom den sejeste pige op til mig,

the coolest girl in the bunk came up to me

og hun spurgte mig, "Hvorfor opfører du dig så modent?" --

and she asked me, "Why are you being so mellow?" --

modent, var selvfølgelig præcis det modsatte

mellow, of course, being the exact opposite

af L-A-A-A-R-M.

of R-O-W-D-I-E.

Og den anden gang jeg prøvede det,

And then the second time I tried it,

kom lejrlederen hen til mig med et bekymret udtryk i ansigtet,

the counselor came up to me with a concerned expression on her face

og hun gentog sin pointe om sammenhold

and she repeated the point about camp spirit

og sagde, at vi skulle alle arbejde hårdt

and said we should all work very hard to be outgoing.

for at være udadvendte.

And so I put my books away,

Så jeg lagde mine bøger væk,

back in their suitcase,

tilbage i deres kuffert,

and I put them under my bed,

og jeg lagde dem under min seng,

and there they stayed for the rest of the summer.

og der blev de resten af sommeren.

And I felt kind of guilty about this.

Jeg havde lidt dårlig samvittighed over det.

I felt as if the books needed me somehow,

Jeg følte, at bøgerne havde brug for mig,

and they were calling out to me and I was forsaking them.

og de kaldte på mig, og jeg svigtede dem.

But I did forsake them and I didn't open that suitcase again

Men jeg forlod dem, og jeg åbnede ikke den kuffert igen,

før jeg var hjemme hos min familie

until I was back home with my family at the end of the summer.

ved sommerens slutning.

Now, I tell you this story about summer camp.

Jeg fortæller denne historie om sommerlejr,

I could have told you 50 others just like it --

jeg kunne have fortalt jer 50 andre lignende --

all the times that I got the message

alle de gange, jeg blev fortalt,

that somehow my quiet and introverted style of being

at min stille og indadvendte måde at være på,

was not necessarily the right way to go,

ikke nødvendigvis var det rigtige,

that I should be trying to pass as more of an extrovert.

at jeg skulle prøve på at opføre mig mere udadvendt.

And I always sensed deep down that this was wrong

Jeg følte altid inderst inde, at dette var forkert,

and that introverts were pretty excellent just as they were.

og at indadvendte var udmærkede præcis, som de var.

Men i årevis fornægtede jeg denne følelse,

But for years I denied this intuition,

and so I became a Wall Street lawyer, of all things,

og så blev jeg af alle ting advokat i finansverdenen

instead of the writer that I had always longed to be --

i stedet for forfatter, som jeg altid havde ønsket --

partly because I needed to prove to myself that I could be bold and assertive too.

delvist fordi jeg skulle bevise over for mig selv,

at jeg også kunne være dristig og selvsikker.

And I was always going off to crowded bars

Og jeg tog altid på overfyldte barer,

when I really would have preferred to just have a nice dinner with friends.

selvom jeg egentlig foretrak en hyggelig middag med venner.

And I made these self-negating choices so reflexively,

Og jeg foretog disse selvnægtende valg

så meget per refleks,

that I wasn't even aware that I was making them.

at jeg ikke engang var klar over, at jeg foretog dem.

Now this is what many introverts do,

Dette er, hvad mange indadvendte gør,

and it's our loss for sure,

og det er helt sikkert vores tab,

but it is also our colleagues' loss

men det er også vore kollegaers tab

and our communities' loss.

og vores samfunds tab.

And at the risk of sounding grandiose, it is the world's loss.

Og med risiko for at lyde bombastisk, er det verdens tab.

Because when it comes to creativity and to leadership,

For når det handler om kreativitet og lederskab,

we need introverts doing what they do best.

har vi brug for indadvendte, som gør det, de er bedst til.

A third to a half of the population are introverts --

En tredjedel til halvdelen af befolkningen er indadvendte --

a third to a half.

en tredjedel til halvdelen.

So that's one out of every two or three people you know.

Så det er en ud af to eller tre af alle de mennesker, man kender.

So even if you're an extrovert yourself,

Så selv hvis du er udadvendt,

I'm talking about your coworkers

så snakker jeg om dine kollegaer

and your spouses and your children

og din ægtefælle og dine børn

and the person sitting next to you right now --

og personen, som sidder ved siden af dig nu --

all of them subject to this bias

de er alle ramt af denne fordom,

that is pretty deep and real in our society.

som ligger dybt og seriøst i vores samfund.

We all internalize it from a very early age

Vi tilegner os den alle i en ung alder,

without even having a language for what we're doing.

uden vi overhovedet kan forklare, hvad vi gør.

Now, to see the bias clearly,

For at se denne fordom klart

you need to understand what introversion is.

må man forstå, hvad indadvendthed er.

It's different from being shy.

Det er anderledes end at være genert.

Shyness is about fear of social judgment.

Generthed handler om frygt for social bedømmelse.

Introversion is more about,

Indadvendthed handler mere om,

how do you respond to stimulation,

hvordan man reagerer på stimulering,

including social stimulation.

inklusiv social stimulering.

So extroverts really crave large amounts of stimulation,

Så udadvendte har brug for store mængder stimulering,

whereas introverts feel at their most alive

hvorimod indadvendte føler sig mest i live,

and their most switched-on and their most capable

mest tændte og mest kompetente,

when they're in quieter, more low-key environments.

når de er i mere stille, neddæmpede miljøer.

Ikke hele tiden -- disse ting er ikke absolutte --

Not all the time -- these things aren't absolute --

men en stor del af tiden.

but a lot of the time.

So the key then to maximizing our talents

Så nøglen til,

at maksimere vores evner,

is for us all to put ourselves

er for os alle at sætte os selv

in the zone of stimulation that is right for us.

i den stimuleringszone, som er rigtig for os.

But now here's where the bias comes in.

Men her kommer fordommen ind.

Our most important institutions,

Vores vigtigste institutioner,

our schools and our workplaces,

vores skoler og arbejdspladser,

they are designed mostly for extroverts

er hovedsageligt designet til udadvendte,

and for extroverts' need for lots of stimulation.

og til de udadvendtes behov for en masse stimulering.

And also we have this belief system right now

Desuden har vi også disse værdier lige nu,

that I call the new groupthink,

som jeg kalder den nye gruppetænkning,

which holds that all creativity and all productivity

som siger, at al kreativitet og al produktivitet,

comes from a very oddly gregarious place.

kommer fra et utroligt selskabeligt sted.

So if you picture the typical classroom nowadays:

Så hvis I forestiller jer et typisk klasseværelse nu til dags:

When I was going to school, we sat in rows.

Da jeg gik i skole,

sad vi på række.

We sat in rows of desks like this,

Vi sad i rækker af skriveborde, sådan her,

and we did most of our work pretty autonomously.

og vi lavede det meste af vores arbejde ret selvstændigt.

But nowadays, your typical classroom has pods of desks --

Men nu til dags, har et typisk klasseværelse

flokke af borde --

four or five or six or seven kids all facing each other.

4, 5, 6, eller 7 børn, som alle sidder med ansigtet imod hinanden.

And kids are working in countless group assignments.

Og børnene arbejder med et utal af gruppeopgaver.

Even in subjects like math and creative writing,

Selv i fag som matematik og kreativ skrivning,

which you think would depend on solo flights of thought,

som man skulle tro afhang af selvstændig tankegang,

kids are now expected to act as committee members.

forventes det, at børn agerer som udvalgsmedlemmer.

And for the kids who prefer to go off by themselves or just to work alone,

Og for børn, der foretrækker

at gå for sig selv eller bare arbejde alene,

those kids are seen as outliers often

de anses ofte for særlinge

or, worse, as problem cases.

eller værre for problemsager.

Og størstedelen af lærerne rapporterer i den tro,

And the vast majority of teachers

reports believing that the ideal student is an extrovert

at den ideelle elev er udadvendt

as opposed to an introvert,

i modsætningen til en indadvendt,

even though introverts actually get better grades

selv om indadvendte faktisk får bedre karakterer

and are more knowledgeable,

og er mere vidende

according to research.

ifølge forskning.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Okay, same thing is true in our workplaces.

Det samme gælder for vores arbejdspladser.

Now, most of us work in open plan offices,

De fleste af os arbejder i åbne kontorer

without walls,

uden vægge,

where we are subject to the constant noise and gaze of our coworkers.

hvor vi er udsat

for vores kollegaers konstante støjen og blikke.

And when it comes to leadership,

Når det gælder lederskab,

introverts are routinely passed over for leadership positions,

bliver indadvendte gang på gang overset for lederpositioner,

selv om indadvendte som regel er meget forsigtige,

even though introverts tend to be very careful,

meget mindre sandsynlige til at tage store risici --

much less likely to take outsize risks --

som er noget, vi alle kunne foretrække nu til dags.

which is something we might all favor nowadays.

And interesting research by Adam Grant at the Wharton School

Og interessant forskning af Adam Grant på Wharton School

has found that introverted leaders

har fundet, at indadvendte ledere

often deliver better outcomes than extroverts do,

ofte leverer bedre resultater, end udadvendte gør,

because when they are managing proactive employees,

fordi når de styrer proaktive medarbejdere,

they're much more likely to let those employees run with their ideas,

lader de ikke så ofte disse medarbejdere arbejde efter deres idéer,

whereas an extrovert can, quite unwittingly,

hvorimod en udadvendt helt ubevidst kan

get so excited about things

blive så ophidset over tingene,

that they're putting their own stamp on things,

at de sætter deres eget fingeraftryk på tingene,

and other people's ideas might not as easily then bubble up to the surface.

og andres idéer får da sværere ved at

boble op til overfladen.

Now in fact, some of our transformative leaders in history have been introverts.

Faktisk har nogle af vores banebrydende historiske ledere været indadvendte.

Jeg skal give nogle eksempler.

I'll give you some examples.

Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Gandhi --

Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Gandhi --

all these people described themselves as quiet and soft-spoken and even shy.

alle disse beskrev sig selv

som rolige, blide og endda sky.

And they all took the spotlight,

Og de indtog alle rampelyset,

even though every bone in their bodies was telling them not to.

selvom enhver knogle i deres kroppe

bad dem lade være.

And this turns out to have a special power all its own,

Og dette viser sig at have en speciel kraft i sig selv,

fordi folk kunne mærke, at disse var ledere,

because people could feel that these leaders were at the helm

ikke fordi de nød at dirigere andre

not because they enjoyed directing others

og ikke for nydelsen af at blive set på;

and not out of the pleasure of being looked at;

de var ledere, fordi de ikke havde noget valg,

they were there because they had no choice,

fordi de blev drevet til at gøre, hvad de mente var rigtigt.

because they were driven to do what they thought was right.

Now I think at this point it's important for me to say

Nu er det på tide og vigtigt, jeg siger,

that I actually love extroverts.

at jeg faktisk elsker udadvendte.

I always like to say some of my best friends are extroverts,

Jeg nyder at sige, nogle af mine bedste venner er udadvendte,

including my beloved husband.

inklusive min elskede mand.

And we all fall at different points, of course,

Vi lander selvfølgelig alle forskelligt

along the introvert/extrovert spectrum.

langs indadvendt/udadvendt spektret.

Even Carl Jung, the psychologist who first popularized these terms,

Selv Carl Jung, psykologen, der først gjorde disse termer populære, sagde,

said that there's no such thing as a pure introvert

at der ikke findes en ren indadvendt

eller ren udadvendt.

or a pure extrovert.

He said that such a man would be in a lunatic asylum,

Han sagde, at en sådan person ville være på en galeanstalt,

hvis han eksisterede.

if he existed at all.

And some people fall smack in the middle of the introvert/extrovert spectrum,

Nogle falder lige i midten

af indadvendt/udadvendt spektret,

and we call these people ambiverts.

og dem kalder vi ambiverter.

And I often think that they have the best of all worlds.

Jeg tænker ofte, at de har det bedst af alle.

But many of us do recognize ourselves as one type or the other.

Men mange anser sig selv for den ene eller anden type.

And what I'm saying is that culturally, we need a much better balance.

Og jeg siger, at kulturelt behøver vi en meget bedre balance.

We need more of a yin and yang between these two types.

Vi behøver en art yin og yang

mellem disse to typer.

This is especially important

Dette er især vigtigt,

when it comes to creativity and to productivity,

når det gælder kreativitet og produktivitet,

because when psychologists look at the lives of the most creative people,

for når psykologer ser

på de mest kreative personers liv,

what they find

finder de

are people who are very good at exchanging ideas

folk, der er meget gode til at udveksle idéer

and advancing ideas,

og bygge videre på idéer,

but who also have a serious streak of introversion in them.

men som også har et seriøst strejf af indadvendthed i sig.

And this is because solitude

Det er fordi ensomhed ofte er en afgørende ingrediens

is a crucial ingredient often to creativity.

for kreativitet.

So Darwin,

Så Darwin,

he took long walks alone in the woods

han gik lange ture alene i skovene

and emphatically turned down dinner-party invitations.

og afviste kategorisk invitationer til aftenselskaber.

Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss,

Theodor Geisel, bedre kendt som Dr. Seuss,

he dreamed up many of his amazing creations

han drømte sig til mange af sine fantastiske skabninger

in a lonely bell tower office that he had

i et ensomt klokketårnskontor, han havde

in the back of his house in La Jolla, California.

bagest i sit hus i La Jolla, Californien.

And he was actually afraid to meet the young children who read his books

Han var faktisk bange for at møde

de små børn, som læser hans bøger

for fear that they were expecting him this kind of jolly Santa Claus-like figure

af frygt for, at de forventede, at han var

denne slags glade julemands-agtige mand

and would be disappointed with his more reserved persona.

og ville blive skuffede over hans mere reserverede person.

Steve Wozniak invented the first Apple computer

Steve Wozniak opfandt den første Apple computer,

sitting alone in his cubicle in Hewlett-Packard

mens han sad alene på sin plads

hos Hewlett-Packard, hvor han arbejdede dengang.

where he was working at the time.

Han siger, at han aldrig ville være blevet sådan en ekspert,

And he says that he never would have become such an expert in the first place

hvis ikke han havde været for indadvendt til at forlade huset,

had he not been too introverted to leave the house

mens han voksede op.

when he was growing up.

Selvfølgelig

Now, of course,

this does not mean that we should all stop collaborating --

betyder dette ikke, at vi alle skal stoppe med at samarbejde --

and case in point, is Steve Wozniak famously coming together with Steve Jobs

og et godt eksempel er, da Steve Wozniak slår sig sammen med Steve Jobs

to start Apple Computer --

for at starte Apple Computer --

but it does mean that solitude matters

men det betyder, at ensomhed betyder noget,

and that for some people it is the air that they breathe.

og at for nogle

er det luften, som de indånder.

And in fact, we have known for centuries about the transcendent power of solitude.

Faktisk har vi i århundreder kendt

til ensomhedens transcendente kraft.

It's only recently that we've strangely begun to forget it.

Først for nylig er vi underligt nok begyndt at glemme den.

If you look at most of the world's major religions,

Hvis man ser på de fleste af verdens store religioner,

you will find seekers --

finder man søgere --

Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad --

Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammed --

seekers who are going off by themselves alone to the wilderness,

søgere, som går for sig selv

alene ind i vildmarken,

where they then have profound epiphanies and revelations

hvor de så får dybsindige åbenbaringer,

that they then bring back to the rest of the community.

som de så tager med tilbage til resten af samfundet.

So, no wilderness, no revelations.

Så ingen vildmark, ingen åbenbaringer.

This is no surprise, though,

Dette er dog ikke overraskende,

if you look at the insights of contemporary psychology.

hvis man ser på nutidens psykologiske viden.

It turns out that we can't even be in a group of people

Det viser sig, at vi ikke kan være i en gruppe

without instinctively mirroring, mimicking their opinions.

uden instinktivt at afspejle, efterligne deres holdninger.

Even about seemingly personal and visceral things

Selv ved tilsyneladende personlige og følelsesmæssige sager

like who you're attracted to,

som hvem man er tiltrukket af,

you will start aping the beliefs of the people around you

begynder man at efterabe de andres holdninger

without even realizing that that's what you're doing.

uden overhovedet at indse, at man gør det.

And groups famously follow the opinions

Grupper følger som bekendt holdningerne

of the most dominant or charismatic person in the room,

hos den mest dominerende og karismatiske person i rummet,

even though there's zero correlation

selvom der ingen sammenhæng er

between being the best talker and having the best ideas --

mellem at være den bedste taler og have de bedste idéer --

I mean zero.

jeg mener ingen.

So --

Så ...

(Laughter)

(Latter)

You might be following the person with the best ideas,

Man følger måske personen med de bedste idéer,

but you might not.

men måske ikke.

And do you really want to leave it up to chance?

Og vil man virkelig lade tilfældet råde?

Much better for everybody to go off by themselves,

Meget bedre for alle at gå væk alene,

generate their own ideas

skabe egne idéer

freed from the distortions of group dynamics,

fri fra gruppedynamikkens forstyrrelser

and then come together as a team

og så komme sammen som et hold

to talk them through in a well-managed environment

for at tale dem igennem i et velstyret miljø

and take it from there.

og tage den derfra.

Now if all this is true,

Hvis alt dette er sandt,

then why are we getting it so wrong?

hvorfor tager vi så grueligt fejl?

Why are we setting up our schools this way, and our workplaces?

Hvorfor organiserer vi vores skoler og arbejdspladser sådan?

Og hvorfor får vi disse indadvendte til at føle sig skyldige

And why are we making these introverts feel so guilty

i at ville gå for sig selv noget af tiden?

about wanting to just go off by themselves some of the time?

One answer lies deep in our cultural history.

Ét svar ligger dybt i vores kulturelle historie.

Western societies,

Vestlige samfund,

and in particular the U.S.,

og især USA,

have always favored the man of action over the "man" of contemplation.

har altid favoriseret handlingens mand

frem for kontemplationens mand

og kontemplationens "mand."

But in America's early days,

Men i Amerikas første dage

we lived in what historians call a culture of character,

levede vi i, hvad historikere kalder en karakterkultur,

where we still, at that point, valued people

hvor man dengang stadig satte pris på folk

for their inner selves and their moral rectitude.

for deres indre selv og deres moralske retskaffenhed.

And if you look at the self-help books from this era,

Hvis man ser på selvhjælpsbøgerne fra den æra,

they all had titles with things like

havde de alle titler med ord som

"Character, the Grandest Thing in the World."

"Karakter, det Største i Verden."

And they featured role models like Abraham Lincoln,

De havde rollemodeller som Abraham Lincoln,

who was praised for being modest and unassuming.

som blev hyldet for at være beskeden og ikke at antage.

Ralph Waldo Emerson called him

Ralph Waldo Emerson kaldte ham

"A man who does not offend by superiority."

"En mand, som ikke fornærmer ved overlegenhed."

But then we hit the 20th century,

Så ramte vi det 20. århundrede,

and we entered a new culture

og vi gik ind i en ny kultur,

that historians call the culture of personality.

som historikere kalder personlighedskulturen.

What happened is we had evolved an agricultural economy

Hvad der skete, er at vi havde udviklet en landbrugsøkonomi

til en verden af storkapital.

to a world of big business.

And so suddenly people are moving from small towns to the cities.

Pludselig bevæger folk sig

fra små landsbyer til byerne.

And instead of working alongside people they've known all their lives,

I stedet for at arbejde sammen med folk, de har kendt hele livet,

now they are having to prove themselves in a crowd of strangers.

er de nu nødt til at bevise deres værd

i en flok af fremmede.

So, quite understandably,

Forståeligt nok

qualities like magnetism and charisma suddenly come to seem really important.

bliver kvaliteter som magnetisme og

karisma pludselig meget vigtige.

And sure enough, the self-help books change to meet these new needs

Og søreme om ikke selvhjælpsbøgerne ændrer sig for at møde disse nye behov,

and they start to have names

og de begynder at have navne

like "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

som "Sådan Vinder Du Venner og Påvirker Folk."

And they feature as their role models really great salesmen.

De har som rollemodeller

virkeligt gode salgsmænd.

So that's the world we're living in today.

Det er den verden, vi lever i i dag.

That's our cultural inheritance.

Det er vores kulturelle arv.

Now none of this is to say that social skills are unimportant,

Intet af dette er for at sige,

at sociale kompetencer er uvæsentlige,

and I'm also not calling for the abolishing of teamwork at all.

og jeg vil heller ikke

afskaffe samarbejde overhovedet.

The same religions who send their sages off to lonely mountain tops

De selvsamme religioner, som sender deres vismænd til ensomme bjergtoppe,

also teach us love and trust.

lærer os også kærlighed og tillid.

And the problems that we are facing today

Problemerne, som vi møder i dag

in fields like science and in economics

på områder som videnskab og økonomi

are so vast and so complex

er så store og komplekse,

that we are going to need armies of people coming together

at vi vil få brug for horder af folk, der kommer sammen

for at løse dem sammen.

to solve them working together.

But I am saying that the more freedom that we give introverts to be themselves,

Men jeg siger, at desto mere frihed, vi giver indadvendte til at være sig selv

desto mere sandsynligt vil de

the more likely that they are

to come up with their own unique solutions to these problems.

komme på deres egne unikke løsninger til disse problemer.

So now I'd like to share with you what's in my suitcase today.

Nu vil jeg dele med jer,

hvad der er i min kuffert i dag.

Guess what?

Nu skal I høre.

Books.

Bøger.

I have a suitcase full of books.

Jeg har en kuffert fuld af bøger.

Here's Margaret Atwood, "Cat's Eye."

Her er Margaret Atwood, "Katteøje".

Here's a novel by Milan Kundera.

Her er en roman af Milan Kundera.

And here's "The Guide for the Perplexed" by Maimonides.

Og her er "Vejleder for de vildledte"

af Maimonides.

But these are not exactly my books.

Men disse er ikke helt mine bøger.

I brought these books with me

Jeg tog disse bøger med mig,

because they were written by my grandfather's favorite authors.

fordi de blev skrevet af min bedstefars yndlingsforfattere.

My grandfather was a rabbi

Min bedstefar var rabbiner,

and he was a widower

og han var en enkemand,

who lived alone in a small apartment in Brooklyn

som boede alene i en lille lejlighed i Brooklyn,

that was my favorite place in the world when I was growing up,

som var mit yndlingssted i verden, da jeg voksede op,

partly because it was filled with his very gentle, very courtly presence

delvist fordi den var fyldt med hans meget milde, høflige tilstedeværelse,

and partly because it was filled with books.

og delvist fordi den var fyldt med bøger.

I mean literally every table, every chair in this apartment

Bogstaveligt talt havde hvert bord, hver stol i lejligheden

had yielded its original function

opgivet sin oprindelige funktion

to now serve as a surface for swaying stacks of books.

for nu at yde som overflade for svajende stakke af bøger.

Just like the rest of my family,

Ligesom resten af min familie

my grandfather's favorite thing to do in the whole world was to read.

var min bedstefars yndlingsbeskæftigelse at læse.

But he also loved his congregation,

Men han elskede også sin menighed,

and you could feel this love in the sermons that he gave

og man kunne mærke denne kærlighed i gudstjenesterne, som han forestod

every week for the 62 years that he was a rabbi.

hver uge i de 62 år, han var rabbiner.

He would takes the fruits of each week's reading

Han ville tage hver uges læsnings frugter,

and he would weave

og han ville væve disse indviklede gobeliner af oldgammel og humanistisk tænkning.

these intricate tapestries of ancient and humanist thought.

Og folk kom fra nær og fjern

And people would come from all over to hear him speak.

for at høre ham tale.

But here's the thing about my grandfather.

Men her er det med min bedstefar.

Under denne ceremonielle rolle

Underneath this ceremonial role,

he was really modest and really introverted --

var han virkelig beskeden og indadvendt --

so much so that when he delivered these sermons,

så meget, at når han forestod disse gudstjenester,

he had trouble making eye contact

kunne han knap skabe øjenkontakt

with the very same congregation that he had been speaking to for 62 years.

med den selvsamme menighed,

som han havde talt for i 62 år.

And even away from the podium,

Og selv væk fra podiet,

when you called him to say hello,

når man ringede til ham for at sige hej,

he would often end the conversation prematurely

ville han ofte slutte samtalen for tidligt

for fear that he was taking up too much of your time.

af frygt for, at han optog for meget af ens tid.

But when he died at the age of 94,

Men da han døde i en alder af 94,

the police had to close down the streets of his neighborhood

var politiet nødsaget til at lukke kvarterets gader

to accommodate the crowd of people who came out to mourn him.

for at have plads til folkemassen,

som kom for at sørge over ham.

Og derfor prøver jeg nu at lære af min bedstefars eksempel

And so these days I try to learn from my grandfather's example

på min egen måde.

in my own way.

So I just published a book about introversion,

Så jeg har lige udgivet en bog om indadvendthed,

and it took me about seven years to write.

og den tog mig omkring syv år at skrive.

And for me, that seven years was like total bliss,

For mig var de syv år som en total lykke,

because I was reading, I was writing,

for jeg læste, jeg skrev,

I was thinking, I was researching.

jeg tænkte, jeg forskede.

It was my version

Det var min version

of my grandfather's hours of the day alone in his library.

af min bedstefars daglige timer alene i hans bibliotek.

But now all of a sudden my job is very different,

Men nu er mit job pludselig meget anderledes,

and my job is to be out here talking about it,

og mit job er at være herude og tale om det,

talking about introversion.

tale om indadvendthed.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And that's a lot harder for me,

Det er meget sværere for mig,

because as honored as I am to be here with all of you right now,

for uanset hvor beæret jeg er over

at være her med jer alle lige nu,

this is not my natural milieu.

er dette ikke mit naturlig miljø.

So I prepared for moments like these as best I could.

Så jeg forberedte mig på øjeblikke som disse

det bedste, jeg kunne.

I spent the last year practicing public speaking

Jeg brugte det sidste år på at øve at tale offentligt,

every chance I could get.

ved hver eneste lejlighed.

And I call this my "year of speaking dangerously."

Jeg kalder dette mit "år med at tale farligt."

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And that actually helped a lot.

Og det hjalp faktisk en del.

But I'll tell you, what helps even more

Men hvad hjælper mig endnu mere,

is my sense, my belief, my hope that when it comes to our attitudes

er min fornemmelse, tro, håb,

at når det kommer til vores attituder

to introversion and to quiet and to solitude,

over for indadvendthed og ro og ensomhed,

we truly are poised on the brink on dramatic change.

står vi roligt på kanten af dramatiske forandringer.

I mean, we are.

Jeg mener, det gør vi.

And so I am going to leave you now

Derfor vil jeg forlade jer nu

with three calls for action for those who share this vision.

med tre råb efter handling

for dem, som deler denne vision.

Number one:

Nummer et:

Stop the madness for constant group work.

Stop galskaben for konstant gruppearbejde.

Just stop it.

Bare stop det.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

And I want to be clear about what I'm saying,

Jeg vil være tydelig med, hvad jeg siger,

because I deeply believe our offices

for jeg tror virkelig vores kontorer

should be encouraging casual, chatty cafe-style types of interactions --

burde opmuntre

afslappede, sniksnak caféagtige interaktioner --

you know, the kind where people come together

I ved, den slags hvor folk kommer sammen

and serendipitously have an exchange of ideas.

og har en heldig udveksling af idéer.

That is great.

Det er godt.

It's great for introverts and it's great for extroverts.

Det er godt for indadvendte og godt for udadvendte.

But we need much more privacy and much more freedom

Men vi har brug for meget mere privatliv og frihed

og meget mere selvstyre på arbejdet.

and much more autonomy at work.

School, same thing.

Skole, det samme.

We need to be teaching kids to work together, for sure,

Selvfølgelig skal vi lære børn at arbejde sammen,

but we also need to be teaching them how to work on their own.

men vi er også nødt til at lære dem at arbejde alene.

Dette er især også vigtigt for udadvendte børn.

This is especially important for extroverted children too.

Det er nødt til at arbejde alene,

They need to work on their own

because that is where deep thought comes from in part.

fordi det er delvist derfra, dybe tanker kommer.

Okay, nummer to: Gå ud i vildmarken.

Okay, number two: Go to the wilderness.

Be like Buddha, have your own revelations.

Vær som Buddha, få jeres egne åbenbaringer.

I'm not saying

Jeg siger ikke,

that we all have to now go off and build our own cabins in the woods

at vi alle nu skal gå ud og bygge vores egen hytte i skoven

and never talk to each other again,

og aldrig tale til hinanden igen,

but I am saying that we could all stand to unplug

men at vi alle kunne have godt af at trække stikket ud

and get inside our own heads a little more often.

og komme ind i vores egne hoveder

lidt oftere.

Number three:

Nummer tre:

Take a good look at what's inside your own suitcase

Tag et godt kig på, hvad er inden i jeres egne kufferter,

and why you put it there.

og hvorfor I lagde det der.

So extroverts,

Så udadvendte

maybe your suitcases are also full of books.

måske er jeres kufferter også fyldt med bøger.

Or maybe they're full of champagne glasses or skydiving equipment.

Måske er de fyldt med champagneglas

eller skydivingudstyr.

Whatever it is, I hope you take these things out every chance you get

Hvad end det er, håber jeg, I tager disse ting ud ved hver given lejlighed

and grace us with your energy and your joy.

og beærer os med jeres energi og nydelse.

But introverts, you being you,

Men indadvendte, da I er jer,

you probably have the impulse to guard very carefully

har I nok impulsen meget grundigt at beskytte,

what's inside your own suitcase.

hvad er inden i jeres egen kuffert.

And that's okay.

Det er i orden.

But occasionally, just occasionally,

Men bare engang imellem

I hope you will open up your suitcases for other people to see,

håber jeg, I vil åbne jeres kufferter så andre kan se,

because the world needs you and it needs the things you carry.

for verden behøver jer, og den behøver de ting I bærer.

So I wish you the best of all possible journeys

Så jeg ønsker jer alle de bedst mulige rejser

and the courage to speak softly.

og modet til at tale mildt.

Thank you very much.

Mange tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

Thank you. Thank you.

Tak. Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)