Where are the grown-ups?
The Flynn effect, first noticed by intelligence researcher James Flynn, refers to the tendency of IQ scores to change over time. In short, when intelligence tests are standardized, the average test result is set to 100 and standard deviation 15 or 16 IQ points. When the tests are revised with new test-takers, the average scores are yet again set to 100 and so forth.
However, when new test subjects are asked to take older tests, their scores almost always average significantly above 100. Put differently, this means that a 100 today is “worth more” than a 100 twenty years ago.
Or at least it used to.
Recent research has unearthed a reversal of the Flynn effect. We are now, officially, getting dumber as a species. And by a lot; researchers from the Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research in Norway analyzed roughly 730,000 IQ tests given to Norwegian men before their compulsory military service from 1970 to 2000 and found that average scores were dropping to the tune of around seven IQ points per generation. Studies that tell a similar story are now starting to appear all over the planet.
The scientific consensus is that the devolution has nothing to do with genetics – even within single families, scores were declining. Rather, somehow, we seem to be building what one might call a stupidity-inducing environment.
As with anything complex, it is practically impossible to pinpoint precisely what aspect of our lives might be the driving force, but when it comes to business, I strongly suspect the infantilism of discourse.
Somewhere along the line, we decided that we wanted to improve, but not do the work. We stopped actively asking questions and instead passively waited for others to provide the answers. We started to emphasize short-term emotional gratification over long-term intellectual amelioration.
It is as if we collectively agreed that the best way to increase conversational value was to lower the denominator, not increase the numerator, and individual progress was a matter of return on mental investment, not one of perpetual improvement.
LinkedIn illustrates my point rather well.
On a platform designed to increase dwell-time among supposed professionals, a mainstay feature is its amateur hour. Post after post of boast after boast, emoticons and smileys, desperate CTAs and one-line replies such as “brilliant”, “agree”, “100%” – all of which adds up to little else than a perpetual loop of diminishing intellectual returns.
But, of course, it is not the sole culprit.
Previously prestige outlets such as Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review and Forbes are now increasingly selling the simplistic instead of conveying the cutting-edge. Our so-called thought-leaders have gone from game changers such as Peter Drucker to game players such as Gary V, from revolutionary strategic insights to "the best strategy is empathy". From the poignant to the pointless.
Slowly but steadily, the Flynn effect is reversed and instead of counteracting the movement, we reduce our discourse to the ultimately infantile.
Where are the grown-ups?
I help Risk Managers, CROs and Insurance Buyers assess and manage their property risks, optimize their risk transfer strategies, raise their profile within their organizations and make their businesses more resilient.
2 年If only I could see more of these articles in my feed! You make an excellent point about the algorithm rewarding messages like “be yourself” and “never give up” and dwell time driven by flashy selfies and videos, at the expense of longer and deeper thoughts that nee the reader to burn some brain calories. On the Flynn effect itself, I have some doubts mainly because of my hope that the world keeps going forwards and not backwards and after all, youngsters are more clever than I was at their age! Great discussion also in the comments.
Marketing Leader I Commercially driven senior marketer experienced in global customer acquisition, brand management, community engagement & partnership activation in Fintech and Sport.
3 年Agreed. ?? Unfortunately more and more are focussed in vanity metrics rather than actually trying to engage with our customer in a meaningful way. When you see the media and politicians more interested in clicks and optics rather than the truth, you know it's a race to the bottom.?
The Organized Creative | I help marketers turn creativity into a structured tool that drives results in a global context.
3 年Wait, you're saying "being nice" isn't enough for business success? Blasphemy! Burn him! ??
Marketing Director | Consultant | Board member | MIPA and 3x Mini MBA Helping brands unlock the lost potential of true marketing and brand management.
3 年Add this to the fact that asking questions and trying to dig deep to the root cause of a business problems is offensive to everyone. Combining that all together and it is a perfect mixture for companies taking stupid actions based on superficial facts which where gathered causing the least friction. Decision after decision is made simplifying everything according to the rule of not causing problems and being cooperative. Many executives and decision makers should grow up and rise to the standard which is expected of them.
Chief Strategy Officer - Shift Integrated (Pvt) Ltd
3 年JP how much of this infantilization is a result of pseudo-scientific advice such as 'leaders lack the attention span for complex things'? Don't you blame the drive to simplify management thinking that has taken hold over the last two decades? I genuinely understand the importance of having clearer language and the diverse levels of comprehension people have, but this has mutated into dumbing down for the sake of understanding ("would your 10 year old niece understand it?").