By my estimation (very rough of course), at least 75% of the people I worked with back in the day were extroverts.

The sort of people who grab colleagues for impromptu huddles…

Who linger at the water cooler for a natter about yesterday’s tennis…

Or who pop by your desk for a chat about the weather, the office gossip - or even nothing in particular, yet still seem to have lots to say.

Activity like this is bread and butter to cheery extroverts.  But a living hell for an introvert like me. 

My idea of a productive and peaceful morning would be sitting in my bat-cave, typing emails or burying myself in a spreadsheet.  Not schmoozing and hobnobbing, or unwittingly eavesdropping on a colleague on the phone trying to book a table at the hottest new restaurant in town.

In fact, there were times I’d spot a chatterbox heading my way and duck down behind the photocopier to avoid any possibility of an impromptu meet & greet, such was my reluctance to getting dragged into a spontaneous chinwag.

Extroverts may read this and shake their head in astonishment.

But introverts will read this with a knowing smile.

And the stark contrast in introvert/extrovert behaviour all comes down to this:

The thing that energises an extrovert is the very same thing that saps an introvert’s energy.

That thing?

Interacting with other people.

Extroverts can “charge their battery” whenever they want by finding a poor, unsuspecting introvert to pin down and earbash.

Whereas most introverts are too polite to tell a chirpy extrovert that their own energy levels are ebbing away, that they’ll soon be on Low Power Mode and that they need to plug back into their bat-cave (or park bench, or toilet cubicle – whatever works).

Otherwise their battery will run out.  And nothing and no-one can operate with a flat battery.

So defending this battery becomes of the utmost importance.

All of which leads me to the question…

Can introverts survive in open-plan offices?

Well, you might be surprised to hear that my answer to this is a resounding YES!

Of course, it’s not easy.

The introvert may need to switch on “stealth mode” to blend seamlessly into the office background…

Or create a desk oasis using overflowing pot plants to act as a natural fortress against sprightly intruders…

Or even use a secret sign language which is invisible to the extroverted eye.  Like a raised eyebrow which signals “please come and rescue me” to a fellow introvert.

So it is possible.  

It just requires some creativity and guile.

That's my take on things.

But what do you think?

That’s all for today.  Have a great weekend.

 - Tom