Introvert, extrovert, ambivert, otrovert - let's quit the labels

You've heard of introvert and extrovert, and you've probably heard of ambivert. Maybe even omnivert. Now here comes another stereotype to make you turn green: "otrovert".

According to this Instagram post, an otrovert is someone who changes between the two. Sometimes introvert, sometimes extrovert. Wikipedia says it's a term coined by psychologist Rami Kaminski.

In my experience, this is neither new nor uncommon: few people are just one or the other. No one has a one-track-mind.

Looking to CliftonStrengths®, we are all 34-track-minds, with 5 tracks dominating our thoughts, words, actions and relationships, and a further 5-7 tracks that are still strong but a tad more on the periphery. So you could say, we are all 10-to-12-track-minds. It's no wonder we can't be pigeonholed into simplistic categories. There are too many permutations for any one term to describe them all.

Here are some concrete examples:

The quintessential form of extroversion is called Woo. These gregarious, chatty and charming people are delightful. They strike up conversations with strangers in elevators, making friends easily.

But even if you have a Woo Talent, and people describe you as the life of the party, you have at least nine other Talents, some of which might make you appear reserved at certain times.

For example, if you have Woo but also Empathy, chances are you need to withdraw from people at the end of the day to tune into your own emotions for a change.

Or you might also have Achiever, which means you will happily defer socialising while you get lots of things on your to-do list done.

Or you might also have Context, which means you quite happily spend hours in quiet museums in search of "why", before finding someone new to talk to.

Or you might also have Input, which means you enjoy time curled up with a good book and not talking to anyone some times. Don't feel like partying tonight.

There are also some Talent Themes which are not usually linked to extroverts but people who have them appear as such.

For example, if you have a Learner Talent, you enjoy the process of learning and have a natural burning curiosity about everything. You ask many questions, making people around you think you are an extrovert, even though you would decline this label.

Or maybe you have Belief, which prompts you to be quite vocal about what you believe to be right and wrong, especially when you are asked to do something that goes against your principles. Yet you would not call yourself an extrovert.

So, call it otrovert if you like, but what some psychologists or Instagram accounts describe as a revolutionary new finding, or some sort of mystical development in human psychology (humans have not changed fundamentally in 300,000 years), has been known for a long time to anyone who's ever read their CliftonStrengths® report.

One thing we should all agree on: the sooner we let go of black-orange-green-white labels the better.