Organizations to Move from Asking: How Intelligent are you? To: How are you Intelligent?

There was a time when our view of intelligence was fixed. A person was either intelligent via the defined metrics of IQ or they were not.

An IQ test is keen on answering one question: How intelligent are you? While this may be a useful question in many settings, it should not be the only measure of intelligence.

The alternative question is: How intelligent are you? This question seeks to assess levels of people’s intelligence outside the narrowly defined parameters of IQ.

This has the effect of moving many people out of the dark tunnel that defines them narrowly on the basis of the traditional scope of intelligence.

It gives them a chance at creative expression via their unique disposition.

For example: Some people in organizations are very good at spotting opportunities that can be exploited for profit. This does not depend heavily on intelligence but on the ability to get insights into overlooked problems that need solving.

Most innovators have this kind of intelligence. It is not the kind of intelligence that IQ tests measure.

And while the innovator maybe good at spotting opportunities, they may be terrible at coming up with plans for exploiting the opportunity.

This creates room for another form of intelligence, the ability to sketch plans for exploiting the opportunity. There are people capable of visualizing plans clearly and they are useful to the innovator.

They are capable of helping the innovator sketch plans for moving the product from the inception stage to the market.

While this form of intelligence is very useful, it is complemented by yet another form of intelligence: The intelligence to see the risks and the flaws within the sketched plans.

The ability to conservatively look at plans and scan them for flaws and risk pitfalls, is a form of intelligence. It may save a lot of time, energy, attention and other resources from being misdirected.

Having spotted an opportunity, having sketched a plan to exploit the opportunity, and having scanned the plan for flaws and risks and mitigated, there is the need to sell the plan inside the organization.

Another form of intelligence is required: Salesmanship. This is not the traditional salesmanship. These are the internal salespeople in the organization.

They are very effective at galvanizing people around a plan. If you have their support, you can bet on their ability to create excitement around the plan in the organization.

As illustrated, these are diverse forms of intelligences that cannot be measured via the IQ tests. However, they are useful in driving organizations and societies forward.

A team with such forms of intelligences has heterogeneity that is useful for creating value.

While intelligence in it's traditional format is good and useful in some disciplines, it is not in most others.

There is an old saying about how the snake was disadvantaged because the animals were measured by their ability to climb trees.

The snake's ability to slither was discounted and it's skills unutilized.

Leaders and managers have a sensitive role to which most are unaware of: Acknowledging and utilizing the diversity in their teams.

As a leader, acknowledging, encouraging and utilizing the slither, the hop, the crawl, the swing...may be the best thing you will ever do for people's careers.