IT IS ESTIMATED that fully 50 percent of the working population in the U.S. is somewhat to highly introverted. This means that it is possible that half of the valuable employees at a financial planning firm prefer to not be on committees, prefer to not go to conferences, prefer to work alone, prefer to think about ideas for quite a while, and prefer to avoid conflict, especially in groups. Introversion can be confused with shyness; it is not shyness. Introversion is a person's preferred style of working with ideas, people, and the world. Shyness is an anxiety challenge.