After watching Susan Cain's TED talk, I actually had to take a few minutes to decide exactly where I thought I fell on the introvert-extrovert spectrum. I've always considered myself an extrovert but after hearing what Susan had to say about individuals and their identities on the spectrum, I found myself doubting if I truly was. Being a student in the business school, we tend to be tested quite often on our abilities to collaborate on projects. If I have learned anything from my experiences working in groups, it's that whether you believe it or not, no group of people are ever going to be successful if they all fall on the same side of the spectrum. A group of introverts may have great ideas and brilliant direction, but if no one steps up and takes a leadership role, they may all be satisfied with keeping to themselves. On the other side of the spectrum, a group of purely extroverts may never get anything done because they all want to take the leadership role. I think due to this, there are situations where an introvert has no choice but to express the behaviors of an extrovert. I think having that balance in a group is of the utmost importance.
When looking at Tuckman's Developmental Stages Model, not having an equal balance would also be problematic. If a group of people is every going to hope to see all facets of development (forming, storming, norming, performing), its important they don't get hung up on any single stage, which is where being encouraging and not suppressing anyone in a group is key. Each member in a group brings something different and useful to the table. Unless they are given the opportunity for self-expression, these attributes may get lost before they are ever discovered. If you look at any of the great introverts of our history, you could probably point to a specific moment where their lack of conformity was tested and they had to make a decision: either stick to their guns or sacrifice on integrity and personal belief. Whether someone is an introvert or extrovert doesn't necessarily matter. It comes down to their ability to find the weakness in their group (whether big or small) and fill that void.
I think you bring up a really interesting point at the end about simply filling the weaknesses of a group. I think that it is really difficult to adjust yourself to this particular space. Though I like the idea, in practice it doesn't necessarily work. If the space needed to be filled in that of a strong public speaker, someone that is introverted is most likely not going to be a strong public speaker. We can work to improve on both sides because there are benefits to it all but you can't change entirely based upon your groups needs.
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