Nice article, Niklas. Short and to-the-point. And useful.

I find myself compelled to write a reaction because I recognize the way you describe a ‘smart person’s typical response’ as my own.

Having thought of it before. Needing some prodding. Saying ‘I don’t know…’ first. Then asking clarifying questions.

Typical. My wife loves it and hates it about me at the same time.

At the same time, I have been known to come up with a quick response to simple questions as well, partly because of peer pressure to show my own eagerness – such as recently in the setting of an all-new team in a completely new environment.

What I guess I’m saying is: maybe one way of being smart is the way you describe in this article.

Maybe I’m smart.

And maybe some smart people are introverts and others typical extraverts – and the strategy you describe here is actually a great way to sniff out the good ideas hiding in smart, introverted people’s minds, especially in a group setting.

Which again, is very, very useful indeed.

Introverts and even ambiverts such as myself hide far too many ideas in group settings, which could be very beneficial to themselves and the people they work with.

Very valuable to have strategies to tease these ideas out for the benefit of all.