Name: The Genius of Opposites
Rating: 3.9 (25 reviews)
Author: Jennifer B. Kahnweiler

What’s in it for me? Learn why partnerships between opposites are so successful.

Would you say you’re an introvert or an extrovert? If you’re unsure, it might be high time to find out, because, as these blinks make clear, being successful is often a matter of partnering up with your opposite.

Although it might be easier to work with someone who is just like you, such partnerships rarely lead to new insights. Working relationships between extroverts and introverts, on the other hand, often result in true innovation.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why there is no John Lennon without Paul McCartney;
the foolproof way to tell whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert; and
how Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak overcame their differences and changed an entire industry.

When extroverts and introverts overcome their differences, they can achieve great things.

What would the introverted John Lennon have done without his extroverted counterpart, Paul McCartney? As their relationship proves, opposed personality types can create wonderful things when they work together.

You’ve probably heard time and time again that people are either introverts or extroverts. But can you explain the difference? It’s more than just a preference for solitude or company. Rather, it’s the way you recharge your batteries, so to speak, that makes all the difference.

If, after spending time in a large group of people, you feel the need to curl up alone for a while, then you’re probably an introvert. If you feel totally energized after hanging out with a crowd, but start to feel edgy and tired after spending too much time on your own, then you might be an extrovert. In short: introverts extract their energy from within, while extroverts absorb it from the outside world.

It’s perhaps not surprising, then, that introverts and extroverts don’t always see eye to eye. While introverts might regard extroverts as shallow, extroverts might perceive introverts as snobbish or cold. And so, though many high-performing extrovert-introvert duos seem to have a great collaborative relationship, these relationships are often torn apart by underlying differences.

Nobel Prize-winners James Watson and Francis Crick, for example, though utterly unlike one another, joined forces and made the twentieth century’s greatest scientific discovery: DNA. And yet they ceased to work together following this. Why? Because they no longer had a common goal that helped them overcome their differences.

Still, it is possible to create a great working dynamic between opposites. That’s what we’ll be exploring in the following blinks!

Discover your partnership by evaluating your differences and defining a common goal.

Bringing together introverts and extroverts is like mixing oil and water. If you know the difference between them and have a few tricks up your sleeve, it is indeed possible.

After establishing who’s the extrovert and who’s the introvert, it’s time to assess the dynamics of your partnership. How? By comparing how each of you respond to certain statements.

Get your partnership off the ground by accepting your differences and embracing conflict.

We’re always told to accept others for who they are. Seemingly simple advice. But it’s not so easy to follow when your partner starts attacking your ideas or starts being passive aggressive.

Accepting the alien is a major challenge for members of collaborative partnerships. We often wish that our partner functioned more like we function, sometimes pushing them to adjust to our approach. This leads to animosity and resentment. Meanwhile, the pressure of deadlines often brings out our less fortunate traits, making it difficult to calmly resolve conflict.

Strengthen your partnership with clearly defined roles, mutual respect and a team-oriented approach.

Each person has strengths that align perfectly with certain roles in a team. What are yours? Are you the gal who loves to organize it all or the guy who knows how to keep morale high? If you don’t know, it’s time to find out!

The third step toward creating a brilliant partnership is casting the character. Every partnership benefits from clear roles and responsibilities. If nobody knows what their duties are, your partnership won’t reach its full potential.

Kernaussagen in The Genius of Opposites

Über den Autor

Jennifer B. Kahnweiler, a learning and development professional, is an expert on introverts. She has advised organizations such as General Electric and NASA. Kahnweiler has a Ph.D. in counseling and organizational development and is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). The Genius of Opposites is her third bestselling book.