Who’re the Smarter People around us?

Being surrounded by geniuses is great in theory but sometimes tough in practice. It's entrepreneurship gospel that says: “Hire those who are smarter than you ”. There's no mystery to this wisdom. Clever, skilled employees require lesser handholding,?constantly teach you newer things , and shore up your weaknesses.?

Smart people have a number of traits in common, e.g., they're curious and funny and they understand how much they don't know.?Check out these other common characteristics of highly intelligent folks.?Smart people aren't just defined by their outrageously high scores on IQ tests. They tend to share a bunch of other characteristics.

Here are five top qualities of ‘Smarter’ people:

1. Adaptability

Do you end up feeling anxious and worried when you think about what each day holds for you??Change is inevitable in life. Though emotionally disturbing, arming ourselves with lots of adaptabilities will go a long way in handling change. People who adapt easily are flexible set of people who you find excelling in a team.

Smart individuals?are flexible and able to thrive in different settings. As?Donna F. Hammett writes , intelligent people adapt by "showing what can be done regardless of the complications or restrictions placed upon them."?Psychological research ?supports this idea. Intelligence depends on being able to change your own behaviors in order to cope more effectively with your environment, or make changes to the environment you're in.

2. Not knowing isn't bad?

We live in a world where there’s a premium on?knowledge. We hold in high esteem those who can figure things out, who?appear to understand?how it all works. We think we understand how this planet works, and why certain things happen. We believe in cause and effect.?Even on a personal level,?as we start ageing, we begin to think we understand what it means to be human, what our purpose is, what is it all about.

The smartest folks are able to admit when they aren't familiar with a particular concept. As?Jim Winer writes , "Intelligent people are not afraid to say: 'I don't know.' If they don't know it, they can learn it."?We need to begin opening our minds and hearts, and our subconscious minds, and our creativity) to the idea that, as?Albert Einstein ?once said: “Not everything that matters can be measured, and not everything that can be measured matters.”?

3. Curiosity

Curiosity is a fundamental human trait. Everyone is curious, but the object and degree of that curiosity is different depending on the person and the situation.?Albert Einstein ?said:?"I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious."?Research published in 2016 ?in the Journal of Individual Differences suggests that there's a link between childhood intelligence and openness to experience — which encompasses intellectual curiosity — in adulthood.

The mind of curious people is active. They want to know and to understand. This puts them in a better position to learn a job and do it better and more creatively, unlike a person who lacks curiosity.?When curious people fail, they analyze their failure, because they are keen on knowing the reasons, so they can do better the next time. This increases their chances for success.

4. Open-mindedness

Smart people don't close themselves off to new ideas or opportunities.?Hammett writes :?that intelligent people are "willing to accept and consider other views with value and broad-mindedness," and that they are "open to alternative solutions."?Psychologists say ?that open-minded people — those who seek out alternate viewpoints and weigh the evidence fairly — tend to score higher on the SAT and on intelligence tests.

At the same time,?smart people are careful about which ideas and perspectives they adopt. "An intelligent mind has a strong aversion to accepting things on face value and therefore withholds belief until presented with ample evidence,"?says?Alas .

5. Out of the box thinking?

Thinking outside the box is more than just a business cliché. It means approaching problems in innovative ways, conceptualising problems differently, and understanding our position in relation to any particular situation. Ironically, it is a cliché that means to think of clichéd situations in other ways.Thinking outside the box starts well before we’re “boxed in” – that is, well before we confront a unique situation and start forcing it into a familiar “box” that we already know how to deal with. Or at least?think?we know how to deal with.

In fact,?sticking?to the status quo may sabotage your success. Scott Galloway , a clinical professor of marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business,?said?that: "Successful people (like successful companies) are always asking, "What if we did it this way?"

Takeaways?

Identifying something being?Smart?is a tricky word. One can gain perspective from all kinds of people. People with diverse backgrounds—college graduates and high school dropouts, type-A executives and yoga instructors. We must have learned by observing very young boys and girls in our surroundings and seen them experimenting with complex toys and tools.?

Precisely, being smart means being curious as well as open-minded, enough to take?risks ?when needed so you can continue to grow. Smart means being?creative ?and having new ideas, sometimes even standing out of the crowd! It’s not about how many degrees someone has or if they know the world’s facts inside and out.?Lifestyle ?choices, interests, passion for?learning, ?and curiosity in everyday life make people smart.

About the Author

Muhammad Sajwani ?is the Founder and Managing Director of?Evolve HR ?which aims at transforming,?enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan,?Evolve HR thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders.?As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.?

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