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Improving Multi-dimensional Intelligence

GeniusMany years ago I saw a program on the Discovery Channel.  In the show several types of “geniuses” were collected: a physicist, mathematician, a spelling star, a writer, and others.  All participating geniuses took a traditional IQ test, for which the physicist scored highest.  But the IQ test we all know–logic puzzles and mathematics and geometry–tests to the physicists natural strengths and experience.  While the other participants scored lower on that test, they scored much higher in tests measuring other human capabilities.  In other words, genius is relative.  And a variety of tests can identify different types of genius.

Ever since I saw this show I have been fascinated with the idea of dimensions in intelligence.  I remember seeing a demonstration of a special type of intelligence on display at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2004.  Before I played in the WSOP, I was often the best player in local games in San Jose, California.  But at that table in Vegas I was one of the worst.  And one of my opponents kept proving it to me.  He repeatedly announced my intent before I said anything.  (Incidentally, that was an excellent tactic to intimidate me.) While that unknown gentleman may very well have failed high school math, he was a savant with respect to human behavior.

I realized then that people’s real strengths are not obvious.  Indeed, uncovering them can be incredibly difficult.  We are accustomed to measuring intelligence with logic quizzes and breadth of vocabulary and wittiness.  But how does this account for my erstwhile poker opponent? How do we measure behavior prediction based on minute changes in posture and facial expression?  And how do we recognized those that quickly master new languages?  Or can readily understand emotional state in a meaningful and empathetic way?

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The Science of Positivity

PositivityOn Thursday night of last week I attended a presentation by a local sales trainer and motivational speaker, Mush Panjwani.  The talk was titled “Staying Positive in a Negative World”.  I instinctively raise my guard when I see messages like this.  Positivity is fine, I believe.  But realism untarnished by foolish positivity or self-destructive negativity seems the best policy.  But Mush’s presentation spoke to my inner scientist.  And it is worth sharing a summary of his arguments here.

Mush stated that positivity is influenced by three behaviors: thoughts, vocabulary, and actions.  Thoughts affect mood, vocabulary programs our brains and the people around us, and actions have physiological benefits.  Below I share my own experience and research on why Mush’s ideas are correct.

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Disengaged At Work

Keyboard SlaveryI just returned from my short holiday in Tokyo and Beijing.  I spent a good part of Sunday afternoon writing a piece titled “The Value of Ignorance” for this blog and “When Not To Use Big Data” for my professional blog.  I was set to post the personal entry here when I stumbled across a shocking figure.  71% of Americans are not engaged or actively disengaged at their jobs.

Seventy-one percent of American workers are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” in their work, meaning they are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces and are less likely to be productive. That leaves nearly one-third of American workers who are “engaged,” or involved in and enthusiastic about their work and contributing to their organizations in a positive manner.

Above quote from Gallup poll available online.

I stumbled upon this fact in the first couple of pages of Dave Coplin’s book, Business Reimagined.  (And it was a bit of serendipity that I stumbled across the author when he wrote a Financial Times piece about which I emailed him.)  Even as I write this I mumble over the implications of this stunning number.  Are three quarters of the US workforce on autopilot, as I described earlier?  Coplin faults standardization, the legacy of the industrial revolution, for today’s disenfranchisement.

But later in his book, Coplin describes my biggest complaint about large office environments.  If I am going to blame one thing for disengagement, one enslaving force, one subjugator of the human spirit, it is email.  Nothing turns a challenging and exciting job into emotionally crushing task management more than processing hundreds of emails a day.  I know of few people that live without the heavy burden of email management on their shoulders.

The sickness of email continues to spread.  It is trivial to cover our rears by adding one more address to the “to:” line.  It is hundreds of times easier to add an email to someone’s inbox than for them to properly process it.  Because email is easier to spread than to contain, the sickness is growing.  The tumor has metastasized.

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The Power Of Networks

NetworksI recently read Jon Acuff’s Start. His book is a manifesto on movement. An accelerator for action. With a simple premise he calls to action the legions of us that spend years sleepwalking. That idea is this: “don’t wait. Start now.” The book was fine.  But one day one particular quote stood out as I read it.

The … secret about purpose is that it usually finds you. Purpose is attracted to motion. Purpose is attracted to momentum. Purpose loves to surprise you mid-stride. Very rarely will it greet you on your front doorstep. More often than not, you’ll encounter purpose in the middle of the road when you least expect it.

Acuff was talking about the purpose that drives many to succeed at what they do. And the lack of purpose that leaves many of us muddling through the work at hand. Acuff is saying that publicly riding your dreams into glory will be seen, recognized, and appreciated by those in your network. I came to a similar conclusion as Acuff. Not just that your networks would recognize your efforts and respond with opportunity. But that networks are often the reason for success. Indeed, I have noticed a common trait in highly successful people: they are highly networked.

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Trouble With the IRS

IRSThe IRS has taken a lot of heat lately. It now seems beyond doubt that this supposedly apolitical organization targeted opponents of the president. By seeking the protection of the fifth amendment its representative Lois Lerner implied her testimony on unfairly targeting Americans may have landed her in jail. But you do not have to be an American to fear and loath the IRS. Foreign governments, citizens, and even Americans abroad are frequent targets of the cash-hungry arm of the US government. This includes yours truly.

In 2011, a year after I left the states, I sold stock I had held for many years. Because of my international address my broker made the conservative assumption (in terms of their legal protection) that I was not a US citizen. I had not filled out the documentation to prove otherwise. They therefore double-witheld taxes from the sale’s profit. It took me 18 months to get the IRS to refund my over-payment. When the IRS repaid me with interest I was reasonably pleased. But then things got very bad.

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World of Automation, People on Autopilot

The night after my last day at EMC I wrote a blog article that remains unpublished. Maybe some day I will share it. But today I feel it is a little too personal to release to the public. Its theme centered on a life on autopilot. Living taking each step following the momentum of the previous one. I realized that night that part of my life for many years was on autopilot. Then I thought of the flash crash of 2010.

Flash Crash 2010On 6 May 2010 the US stock market plunged 9% (over 1000 points) and recovered those losses within minutes. $1.3 trillion in market value vanished and then reappeared in less time than it takes to use the restroom. The stock market was in a death spiral driven by a emotionless autopilot.

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The Cycle of Hype

The last few weeks have been fairly emotional.  Walking away from a great job, spending a couple weeks relaxing on a warm beach, starting an extraordinarily challenging intensive Chinese course.  Most days I have rode a giddy high.  Some days I second-guessed my decisions.  I know things will be a lot of fun for at least a month or two.  But they then may get bad.  This is the cycle of hype.  Understanding this repeating cycle is instructive for managing expectations and moods.

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Fake It ‘Til You Make It

LantauSaturday at dusk I was enjoying a drink at an outdoor cafe in Hong Kong. This place was on Lantau island, a good distance from the huddled buildings and teeth-rattling trucks on Hong Kong island. It was quiet, mostly, with birds chirping as the sun set. Then I heard my name loudly called across a large granite park. “Scott!” someone was clearly yelling. I craned my neck to see who was calling me. There was no one there.

I asked my girlfriend if she heard my name called. She heard something completely different. What she heard did not resemble my name. We quickly concluded that no one was calling me. I had heard my name among relatively little noise. My mind’s audio pattern recognition had what is called a “false positive”. This is when we wrong identify a pattern that does not exist. In my case I heard my name because the repetition of years has conditioned me to hear it.

It occurred to me in later reflection how our expectations influence our perspective of the world around us. A good mood turns a reckless taxi ride into an amusement park thrill. A bad mood makes the same trip terrifying. In fact fate rarely presents us with events purely good or bad. Life is messy and surprises come in some part sad, some part frustrating, some part uplifting, and often funny. Our attitude at the moment amplifies some of those feelings and causes us to miss others.  The world is painted with our expectations.

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Live Like An NBA Star

NBA StarsA couple weekends ago I was at a beach party in the Philippines.  The crowd comprised locals from the Cebu City region but my friends knew a couple of Americans there they wanted to see.  As we joined this group exchanged pleasantries, I met an NBA recruiter named Greg*. Greg works for one of the great NBA teams–one with multiple championships–and travels the world to find the next NBA superstar.

Greg regaled us with the stories behind the the greatest players (and coaches!) in the league. After listening for a few minutes, I asked a question whose answer may change my life. Or at least profoundly summarize my plan for personal development. I asked Greg, “What is the single best quality in a recruit that predicts his success in the NBA?” Greg answered simply and quickly.

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Waves of Disruption

Massive, technology-induced disruptions seem to happen every few years. In the past few years the internet, smartphones, and the cloud have changed the way we work, play, and communicate. Maybe 3D printing is the next huge disruption. But its not really mass consumable today. But Big Data is being produced and consumed by us all, whether we know it or not.

Pond SplashDisruptions are a rock in a still lake. The force of the rock plunges into the water, scattering drops in all directions. The water responds and thrusts itself to new highs. The waves ripple out, decrease in size, and are less influential or interesting at great distances. But in business disruption creates opportunity. It is a sign of a change of balance somewhere in the world. A shift of equilibrium. And when the water calms some have been moved away from the epicenter. Some have been drawn closer. Many have been changed.

Right now big data is a huge disruption in industry. Its changing the way businesses think about their customers and their operations. Its encouraging governments to embrace transparency and leverage the free market and volunteerism to govern better. Big data is changing careers every day. You have read this far because you are interested in the subject. Will this article, a small part of the big data explosion, bring you closer or further to the epicenter?

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