Intelligence: Overrated?

I'm currently reading a couple of books with chapters on Intelligence. The first book I picked up a couple of weeks ago and is titled What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. After reading his popular book Tipping Point, I thought I'd go ahead and pick this one up. The second book is titled Nurtureshock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman.

Intelligence is one of those things that can be uncomfortable to talk about in a crowd. I'm sure we've all run into those people who love to boast about their intelligence, much like some people like to boast about money or beauty or possessions. Rarely do you hear someone exclaiming their "average-Joeness" around the dinner table. But it's something we all think about. We want to be intelligent in our jobs. We want our kids to be intelligent at school and love when the teacher says "your child is so smart." But what does it really mean? Here is what I think about it.

Remember Enron? Enron recruited the best of the best, 250 MBA's each year and boasted about how much talent these people had and how smart they were. The problem was the company allowed these young "talents" to run wild with their new ideas. We all know what happened in the end. There was no structure within the organization. It isn't the "talent" that makes the organization smart, it's the structure, processes and systems that allow the "talent" to become successful.

Of course I always translate what I'm reading into my own life. So this lesson of organization and structure spoke to me. If I can put successful strategies in place and create an environment where each member of my family is working toward the success of the family as a whole, we can achieve success within that system...whatever we deem success to be. That was lesson #1 for me.

IQ testing was another chapter I read. I think these tests are fun and funny. It's interesting that these tests are not made up of difficult math problems or structural essays, but instead of perception, patterns and the like. If you click on the title of this post you will be directed to MENSA, an organization created for the top 2% of highly intelligent people in the population. It is a fun test, and if you really want to get serious you can take the official membership test and be granted admission to this elite group.

But I ask myself, "why?" Why take an intelligence test? It doesn't determine success or wealth. Members of MENSA range from Millionaires to Welfares (yes, people on welfare). Early IQ tests administered to children do not indicate future success. So many factors go into becoming a well-rounded adult who goes through life with humility, kindness and servanthood. One of those things is Emotional Intelligence.

Do you remember the book written in 1995 by Daniel Goleman about Emotional Intelligence? I read it along with other co-workers back then. It was an interesting read and the concept was adopted by many companies as part of their hiring objectives.

So what to do with all this? Well, I learned a long time ago that you can compare yourself to someone you perceive to be better than you at some attribute (intelligence in this case.) And the opposite is true as well. We can compare ourselves downward and gain an awareness that we are better at some attribute than someone else. Either way it is a negative state of mind that leads to insecurity when I compare myself up, and pride when I compare myself down. Enough with that, I say! Don't compare!

And so often, God puts things in perfect perspective when I seem to hone in on things I shouldn't. With all this IQ stuff rolling around in my mind these past couple of weeks, I was reminded that Jesus called average Joe's to His team! Tax collectors and fisherman. He can even use a stay-at-home-mom in her average-Joeness to focus on what is most important! And it's not IQ, athleticism, finances, beauty or anything else. It's loving Him and loving others. What a relief!