I love this question because I often hear people talk about all the awesome uses of being smart.<\/p>\n\t
I have a point of view on it for two main reasons: \u00a0a) I’ve took a bunch of standardized test in my life. \u00a0While no genius, I would generally qualify as smart and b) I’ve interacted with lots of very successful\/smart people, mainly through my job in consulting, so I understand to a good degree what makes them successful.<\/p>\n\t
I am defining “smart” as having a pretty high IQ.<\/p>\n\t
I’ll start by saying I don’t think being smart is useful in the ways people think.<\/strong> \u00a0“Smartness” is often talked about in this way: \u00a0“That person\u00a0is just so smart”…the implication being that “I couldn’t do that; I’m not smart like that.”.<\/p>\n\t I think smart is useful in pockets, but folks are being imprecise in their language. \u00a0What they often mean is “I don’t work hard enough to do that” or “I don’t have the experience to do that” or “I’m not detail oriented enough to do that” or “I’m not persuasive enough to do that” or “I’m not ambitious enough to do that”….I could go on, but you get the picture.<\/p>\n\t Here are some situations with my thoughts on how “smartness” might apply vs other traits:<\/p>\n\t School:<\/p>\n\t Retaining, discussing, connecting, rationalizing mostly new material\/knowledge is something the intelligent do well. \u00a0School is a great fit for smart people. \u00a0I believe this is part of what makes being smart so valued: \u00a0For the first 20 or so years of your life smart\u00a0is very, very useful. \u00a0It is hard to get out of that mindset and realize that, in life, it isn’t as useful as it was in school.<\/p>\n\t Relationships:<\/p>\n\t Intelligence doesn’t help that much. \u00a0I never recall the smartest being the most popular or most beautiful or most liked. \u00a0In fact, too much intelligence can be a hindrance socially.<\/p>\n\t To be successful in relationships it helps to have traits like helpfulness, positiveness, honesty, decent looks, consistency (no one likes moody), sense of humor, kindness, etc. \u00a0Those traits can make you very successful in life…little intelligence required.<\/p>\n\t Corporate America\/Work:<\/p>\n\t Intelligence is probably over-rated at work (depends on your line of work admittedly). \u00a0Most jobs simply don’t require you to be clever, inventive, to “figure out” a puzzle, etc. \u00a0It doesn’t matter whether you would be a good Jeopardy participant.<\/p>\n\t Work requires you to show up on time. \u00a0This requires you to have some level of responsibility, a car, a consistent, predictable life. \u00a0I’m not sure how smart you need to be for that.<\/p>\n\t Work requires you to do what others ask you to do. \u00a0You also have to do some thinking for yourself, but generally at work the overall goals are driven by others. \u00a0Definitely no link to intelligence to be willing to work towards other’s goals.<\/p>\n\t Work requires you to be a subject matter expert. \u00a0While being smart may make you learn slightly faster than others, experience\/hard work can overcome that pretty easily in the real world. \u00a0As an example, a year of experience working as a mechanic will make you smarter about fixing cars than any amount of general intelligence\/IQ. \u00a0You simply have to do it to know it.<\/p>\n\t Work requires you to be diligent. \u00a0Being able to keep track of the things you have to do and actually do them in the timeframe asked will make you A LOT of money. \u00a0It won’t get you to CEO, but diligence is, in my opinion, the single greatest predictor of work success. \u00a0Show up and do it and you’ll be amazed how successful you will become. \u00a0Is there a link between diligence and intelligence? \u00a0Not much that I’ve ever seen.<\/p>\n\t Code Breaking \/ Playing Chess \/ Being a Polymath, etc.<\/p>\n\t Yes. \u00a0Being intelligent really helps. \u00a0These examples seem whimsical because I can’t think of a lot of examples of intelligence being the one, great thing that will get you there.<\/p>\n\t Being an Executive<\/p>\n\t Being an executive requires you to be a persuasive leader in group situations. \u00a0Being persuasive means being able to state\/defend a position, think on your feet, choose the right words, control your emotions. \u00a0I do think there is an element of intelligence in that; however, I have seen this skill learned as well. \u00a0Once something can be learned, is it intelligence that matters or simply diligence and time?<\/p>\n\t Being an executive means having “executive presence” \/ polish \/ poise. \u00a0This is mostly practice. \u00a0It is difficult to do, but is composed mostly of preparation and experience, not intelligence. \u00a0This is something that is mentored, practiced, honed.<\/p>\n\t Being an executive means having a track record of success. \u00a0Being smart might help. \u00a0I would say diligence, and relationships matter more.<\/p>\n\t Being an executive means\u00a0having others want to follow you. \u00a0Maybe there is some element of intelligence here. \u00a0I would say diligence, relationships, honesty, and empathy all matter more.<\/p>\n\t Being an executive means you have to WANT it. \u00a0I’ve rarely seen highly successful people that didn’t have a bit of ambition that peaked through no matter how humble they are practiced to be. \u00a0Motivation is very important to being successful. I would be surprised if there is a strong correlation between motivation and intelligence. \u00a0I’ve seen some pretty lazy smart people in my life and some really hard working fools.<\/p>\n\t Being an executive means being articulate. \u00a0Like persuasiveness, I think there is an element of intelligence that helps here. \u00a0But are all articulate people smart? \u00a0Take actors. \u00a0Most are very articulate. \u00a0They love to talk and are great at it. \u00a0I don’t think anyone would imagine that most of them are smart. \u00a0It is simply practice. \u00a0In many ways, they get paid to talk and so do it often. \u00a0Over time, they begin to sound more articulate.<\/p>\n\t <\/p>\n\t So my outstanding question as I read back over what I’ve written is: \u00a0“What is the strength of the relationship between intelligence and all these other traits mentioned (e.g. diligence, honesty, empathy, motivation)? \u00a0If intelligence is strong correlated with all of them….then intelligence IS what matters.”<\/p>\n\t What research I’ve seen says there is more\u00a0correlation on some of those traits than others…but, to summarize, smart is useful in pockets. \u00a0It isn’t a cure all.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I love this question because I often hear people talk about all the awesome uses of being smart. I have a point of view on it for two main reasons: \u00a0a) I’ve took a bunch of standardized test in my life. \u00a0While no genius, I would generally qualify as smart and b) I’ve interacted with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3IMYj-de","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":414,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=414","url_meta":{"origin":820,"position":0},"title":"So you want to be a consultant?","author":"kellio","date":"January 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are a few thoughts on what it takes to be a good consultant (something I work at everyday): Consulting is generally filled with smart people. I mean that in the high IQ, \"Gee, s\/he is really smart\" kind of way.\u00a0 That is one thing to keep in mind if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Thoughts on Work"","block_context":{"text":"Thoughts on Work","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=66","url_meta":{"origin":820,"position":1},"title":"You can’t argue she’s not smart:","author":"kellio","date":"March 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Child math prodigy working as a prostitute.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Asides"","block_context":{"text":"Asides","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":113,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=113","url_meta":{"origin":820,"position":2},"title":"Finance: Is it useful?","author":"kellio","date":"November 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Not all \"stuff\" is created equal....or is even useful at all. I'm not talking about diamond studded toothbrushes for your toy poodle.\u00a0 That's fine with me.\u00a0 If you want to waste money on your dog's oral hygiene, so be it. I'm talking about entire industries\/sectors of the economy that don't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"economics\"","block_context":{"text":"economics","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?tag=economics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=1","url_meta":{"origin":820,"position":3},"title":"The state of Chasing Eden","author":"kellio","date":"September 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"So the website disappeared for.....I don't know. A while now. And even before that I had stopped posting. All the old posts, from 2002 to 2007....still exist of course. I don't know if I will ever put them back up to be honest. As for why I stopped posting, why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"website\"","block_context":{"text":"website","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?tag=website"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":134,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=134","url_meta":{"origin":820,"position":4},"title":"Holistic thinking, Complexity and Inflation","author":"kellio","date":"February 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok...really its two different topics, so I'll take holistic thinking first. So I do HR consulting, and we are always talking about the big picture...creating a holistic transformation, etc, etc.\u00a0 Let's think about holistic.\u00a0 Its means whole.\u00a0 You're thinking about the whole thing. Why is this is pipe dream?\u00a0 Two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"economics\"","block_context":{"text":"economics","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?tag=economics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":103,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=103","url_meta":{"origin":820,"position":5},"title":"I predict:","author":"kellio","date":"October 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"We'll see just how smart the neo-cons are come election day. History\/Macro trends are on the side of the Democrats in this election.\u00a0 The polls have them in the lead.\u00a0 The Republicans just completely f%*ked up the last 8 years.\u00a0 The Democrats would be hard pressed to lose this election,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=820"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":841,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820\/revisions\/841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}