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Intelligence Impedes Success Posted Mon Jun 4 05:16:23 2001 by orooney By Dennis Faust How can intelligence be an impediment to success? I've been thinking on this conundrum for some time. This is indicative of the problem. Intelligent people think, think, think. And thinking is often a waste of time. Successful people don't waste much time thinking. Most of you reading this consider yourselves of above average intelligence. Wipe that smirk off your face. You may even BE above average. Congratulations. You'll have to work harder to be successful. monomania (mn-mn-, -mny) n. 1.Pathological obsession with one idea or subject. 2.Intent concentration on or exaggerated enthusiasm for a single subject or idea. "Monomania is a Prerequisite for Success" -- Jenny Holzer: Truisms Successful people focus. Madly sucessful people madly focus. There is a direct correlation between degree of success and degree of single-minded, monomaniacal focus. It's been told and retold that all "the Bill" thought about for ten years was "10 times current revenue." Can you imagine yourself holding that thought for longer than two minutes? I can't either. We are handicapped by the very gifts we've been told would one day make us successful. Are there intelligent people who can focus? Yes. The question is what do they focus on? They tend to focus on arcane topics like user experience, speed of execution, elegance, portability. This dooms them to be low on the success scale. There is always a more direct path to success than advancing some arcane discipline. Someone less intelligent is monomaniacally attacking that path while you worry, fret, analyze and entertain self-doubts. The monomaniac by definition can't entertain doubts or thoughts of failure. The one thought in their head is, "MUST ACHIEVE GOAL." You have to compete against these people. It's almost unfair - for you. "the key to being successful means doing one unique thing well" -- Alice Hill, ZDNET This is a way to achieve business success. If you do "one unique thing well" you will have customers, market share, revenue and a leadership position. That's business success. I prefer to think of success as living well. There are as many different ways to live well as there are people. How do we use our intelligence to live well? First, we must monomaniacally attack our projects. That keeps us in the game with the monomaniacs. This can't be stressed enough. Second, we must concurrently synthesize our environment. We need to parallel process on the next tree AND the forest. While a monomaniac may beat us to the next tree we need to use our intelligence to take the shortest path out of the forest. If you REALLY are of above average intelligence you should be able to achieve this duality of mind. "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald Let me know how if it works any better for you than it has for me: workitecht@workitecht.com   Posted Comments: post a comment! Name: Email: Comment: Name: puddnhead wilson Email: phwilson Date: Wed Jun 13 18:07:06 2001 Comment: Boy I thought monomania was the same as onanism as in "Onan the Barbarian". "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald " Scott: I trust you Zelda that. Name: rerer4 Email: Date: Tue Jun 12 21:28:41 2001 Comment: When you do not have the courage to say 2 and 2 make four, you begin to say bullshit like these "two opposed ideas". . . . . . . Name: e4534 Email: Date: Tue Jun 12 18:22:38 2001 Comment: Honey, why do you make intelligence look so bad? I mean, being intelligent is great, what you may wanna say is that it just is not enough! Name: Wesley Email: Date: Fri Jun 8 17:39:12 2001 Comment: You truly have a dizzy-ing intellect :-) Name: Michael Garrison Email: MikeyGarrison@msn.com Date: Wed Jun 6 23:25:45 2001 Comment: The real trick to harboring two opposed ideas in your head is to develop a concept or credo on a higher level, which encompasses both of the original two thoughts. As a grand scale example, try good and evil. Since before recorded history, Man (the species) has imagined a perpetual battle between these opposing forces. Simplisticly, one can say 'God' is good, and 'Satan', evil. 'God' is also all-powerful, and the Creator of everything, including 'evil', which would infer that 'good' is more power than 'evil'. If that's the case, then it follows that 'God' stacked the deck, by creating 'evil' that is always less powerful than 'good'. (If you're all-powerful in the first place, why risk losing it all by creating an opposing force as strong as yourself?)The all- encompassing idea that seems to resolve this dilemma, is that there is no such thing as intrinsic good or evil. Both are subjective. If something bad happens to you, it's BAD. If it happens to someone else, the result could be good for you. If something good happens to someone else, you might feel happy for them, but nowhere as happy as you would if it happened to you. People can do 'good' things for the wrong reasons, and 'bad' things for the right reasons, but that's another issue. Name: kinda makes me think Email: Date: Wed Jun 6 11:39:30 2001 Comment: Generally people who dominate in business (upper management, CEO, VP, etc....) are not of above average intelligence. Nor, generally, are people who get 4.0 GPA's, or even your average medical doctor. People who achieve such as this simply have very high levels of social skills and understand what the System requires and expects of them, in a sense, thinking totally within the box. They are able to focus on one goal, whether pedantic or not, and follow through. They can therefore do very well within the confines of the System. Most highly intelligent people I know, are jacks of all trades, masters of none, a precept not accepted in our society anymore. Being able to adapt is becomming a more and more nonessential skill. Obviously, society's priorities are misplaced. Name: MasterPo Email: Date: Wed Jun 6 08:34:55 2001 Comment: Jaded - 100% correct! I don't think it's a matter of intellegence as it is standardized structure. Einstein, as did Newton and Darwin, couldn't handle the rigid mechanical step-by-step processes of the formal education system. Their thinking was so far "outside the box" they were bored to tears in school. Now that does not mean that every kid who is bored in school is a budding Einstein or Newton! But you gotta wonder how many potentially truly brilliant people have been stiffled by the formal education system. Add in these days when any student doesn't seem to fit the norm they are immediately targeted by the school for special attention (for fear they might turn postal). ps- Keep in mind too that the job requirements of a patent clerk can't be too demanding. So he didn't "waste" brain power at fruitless endeavours on the job. He had the time and the clear mind to think of things like his theory of relativity. But when your forced to stare for hours at a computer screen for 14 hours a day trying to debug C code someone else wrote while you have bosses yelling at you for the system being down, that doesn't leave much mind left for "outside the box" thinking. You're pretty well fried. Name: jaded Email: jaded@toughpull.com Date: Wed Jun 6 02:37:16 2001 Comment: While I wouldn't want you to quote me on this, I seem to recall one of my old HS english teachers talking about the statistical relationship between IQ and (traditionally defined) success. Basically, she was saying that the further your IQ was from the norm, the more unlikely you were to be successful by society at large. And, once your IQ hit 135+ you were essentially doomed to failure. And by failure, we mean things like poor grades, dropping out of school, going from job to job and being generally miserable. You do realize of course, that Einstein got booted(or did he just fail to get in? I can't remember) from University and was a PATENT CLERK when he wrote the general theory of relativity. As the garbage man from mense in Dilbert once said: Intelligence has less practical application than you might think. Name: Braindead Email: Date: Tue Jun 5 21:20:05 2001 Comment: F. Scott Fitzgerald I agree with you, yet I think you are still full of shit. 'Nough said. Name: Higgs Bosom Email: Date: Tue Jun 5 13:15:31 2001 Comment: No mention of the fact that the the more capable people believe themselves to be less capable while the less capable think themselves the opposite (grammar check please). As for knocking on W, he is our POTUS. Dumb or not, he outsmarted everyone else getting there. (Please, no discussions on the legality/morality of his getting there.) Funny how a good number of successful people were "average" students yet provide their alma maters with their own little Federal Reserves. I think it's time to create a new IQ test for the new world. Higgs Bosom Name: MasterPo Email: Date: Tue Jun 5 10:56:16 2001 Comment: Working hard and working smart are two seperate things. The person who works 60 hrs/week for a big pay check is working hard. The person who is working ~40 hrs/wk for the same pay is (probably) working smarter. Working smarter isn't just being clever in how you are efficient at things. It's also picking the right environment to work if you're going to be an employee. Some companies expect 60+ hr/weeks. Others the boss tells you to go home after 40 hrs/week. And it's up to the person too. Some people feel more comfortable doing longer hours. They feel it helps thier careers. Maybe, maybe not. IMO they're are a little scared, there's little they can do and know there's little they can do but by working longer they feel they are doing something to help themselves. Name: Email: Date: Tue Jun 5 01:01:53 2001 Comment: Name: contemporaryMe Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 22:31:25 2001 Comment: Hmmm..Intelligence is knowing when to shut up. Name: Eric Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 20:55:22 2001 Comment: Intelligence is knowing that there are other people more intelligent than you. Name: Sparky Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 19:56:50 2001 Comment: Hmmm.... Having given this question more than a bit of thought, I'd like to make a few additional points here. 1) Ever hang out with successful people? Know what they do mostly? Talk about making money. Know how fucking boring that is? If you don't, you're probably successful. If so, you're probably intelligent. 2) Most successful people are unhappy. Why? See 1. Life NOT EQUAL money. 3) All that said, it's possible to make plenty of money without being a slave. The key is not to accept what society presents as the solutions to your life's existential problems. In fact, the solutions are 180 degrees opposite what is being prescribed. But you know that already, smartypants. Or do you? 4) Idiots always have the advantage in a large company. Why? Because no one likes anyone smarter than themselves. And on average, people are pretty damn stupid. And everyone likes an idiot. Have a problem with this? Consider our last election. You know, a little less than half the country voted for this guy. Seriously. Try talking to some of them sometime. Wow... They like him, EVEN AS HE IS FUCKING THEM OVER! Think hard on this one, folks. And finally... 5) Smart people work for themselves. It takes a while for this to become apparent however. Intelligence NOT EQUAL experience. Frankly, this article had a great title but seems written by an...idiot. I'm willing to be corrected here. How about a real article on the subject, and not just padding, Workitecht. Name: Aikibu Email: whazen@earthlink.net Date: Mon Jun 4 18:43:59 2001 Comment: And get rid of the yellow jacket if you want to get laid.... Name: Aikibu Email: whazen@earthlink.net Date: Mon Jun 4 18:41:33 2001 Comment: DUDE.... Try not to write when you're hung over from the weekend LOL in other words see if you can live the rest of your life without saying "WHAT ARE DOING"!?! :-) Name: Bill Volk Email: bvolk@youworkit.com Date: Mon Jun 4 15:58:10 2001 Comment: Want to be "madly focused"? It's easy... don't build a business with O.P.M. (other people's money) ... instead use all of your own assets to get it running. A real entreprenuer is more than a nice looking guy/girl who is able to sell VC's a business plan. A real entreprenuer faces WRECKRUIN (at least personal bankrupcy) if they fail. I compete against well funded companies where the CEO's know if they fail ... it won't effect their DB credit ratings one wit. Oh maybe, they will have to cancil the M3 order ... but personally? The failure of their companies doesn't matter. I, on the other hand ... have everything at stake ... the house, kids educations, my personal reputation in the industry etc.... You bet I'm 10x as focused as my competition. I don't have any VC's around to blame my failure on (for not giving me my nth round of funding) ... it's ALL me. They (the competiton) treat their business as a job, for me it's a WAR. That's focus. That's Monomania. Name: Kernel Panic Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 15:34:05 2001 Comment: Nuff Said...... Name: Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 15:31:42 2001 Comment: Name: Ecclesiasties Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 14:26:35 2001 Comment: What profit do you have if you gain the world and lose your soul? Name: Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 14:09:33 2001 Comment: "Monomania is a Prerequisite for Success" -- Jenny Holzer: Truisms Some of the dumbest crap I've heard yet. Based on this rationale, why bother to learn about or even master one or more skills? (ex: Deion Sanders?) Name: Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 11:54:27 2001 Comment: Interesting parallel... Name: Dr. Phil Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 11:53:39 2001 Comment: Dubious Interesting paralle, though, my definition of intelligence is drawn from the teaching of Buddha. Name: iamdubious Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 11:45:38 2001 Comment: I am most comfortable with the ?military? notion of ?intelligence? to which the good Doc also alludes. To succeed, you need to know the terrain and culture within which you are operating. And yes, you need a realistic assessment of your own capability. Without intelligence, you?re just lucky to be alive. Name: Fredy Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 11:37:34 2001 Comment: An old political sawhorse in Texas once said - Lack of success and noteriety have also been known to open a lot of doors to opportunity. Given the statements below - I thought this might be appropriate here ... Name: The Other Cheek Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 11:35:20 2001 Comment: Dennis, it is arguable whether you proved the correlation between intelligence and success, using focus as a key determinant of intelligence. However, in the spirit of your article, I think you can turn your premise around and use focus to explain failure. It seems to me that the "value propositions" of failed dot-coms fell into three categories: Lack of focus - trying to fool all of the people all of the time. Monomaniacal focus - trying to fool specific people at specific times. Focusing on the wrong thing - trying to fool the wrong people and/or at the wrong time. Name: Dr. Phil Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 11:22:46 2001 Comment: Personally, I define intelligence as ?the ability to accurately assess the state of your affairs, and your surroundings.? By that definition, intelligent people are the only ones who succeed. Unless, of course we include those fools who confuse ?luck? with ?destiny.? Name: MasterPo Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 11:03:02 2001 Comment: A key point - successful people rarely have to deal with mundane, repetative daily detail BS chores. They have someone, a spouse, servents whoever to do these things (or at least most of them) for them. Name: MarkyMark Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 10:52:35 2001 Comment: If Mr. Faust is really intrigued by success then he should read more biographies. Focus is a very important element in success. However, many successful people that focused monomaniacally on a goal were also very intelligent. Sir Issaac Newton would lock himself up for days to puzzle over math equations. Adam Smith walked around mumbling economic ideas to himself and his voluminous book was written in longhand. Franklin Delano Roosevelt spent over 10 years in a quiet life before he "focused" on politics. There are many many great stories of successfull people and passion is another word for focus. Thank God for intelligent people that get the passion some times. Name: Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 10:44:07 2001 Comment: Name: Unsuccessful Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 09:51:06 2001 Comment: Gee, so that's been my problem. I feel much better already. Name: firewallfright Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 09:45:37 2001 Comment: Doggy, Don't worry man - I agree. A lot of theory does depend on how you define "intelligence" and what type of success and what level of success you are referring to. Name: Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 09:38:00 2001 Comment: Name: firewallfright Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 09:31:10 2001 Comment: I agree to some extent with the concept of the article, but I think it raises some generalizations. Life and it's circumstances provide so many variables which may or may not assist or impede on one's journey towards "success" that it would be a grave oversight to forget that when you throw "luck" into the equation, all of these assumptions become moot. I have seen very intelligent people become successful simply by being in the right place at the right time. I also believe that success breeds success. Once you have been successful in one endeavor, opportunities in other areas very often come much more easily. Additionally, most successful people make their own "luck" - that is to say, while being in the right place at the right time may be accidental, people who are both successful and intelligent people have a good idea and can figure out where the right place and time may be (planning). Most successful people that I know have multiple talents and interests. In summary, while all successful people may not be intelligent, and all intelligent people may not be successful, that does not preclude a successful person from having high intelligence, and that does NOT mean that if you have high intelligence and a wide array of interests and goals you cannot be successful at one OR MORE of those things. Nice try Dennis, but you have not persuaded me that your premise is valid... Name: doggywhirl Email: Date: Mon Jun 4 09:16:07 2001 Comment: You must first define "intelligence" and "success." Or am I guilty of thinking too much? Name: steve gilliard Email: sgilliard@netslaves.com Date: Mon Jun 4 09:06:46 2001 Comment: Nemesis, We await your article. What the hell would Alice Hill know about success anyway? Monomania is no way to succeed at anything. The web is filled with monomaniacs who have little to no perspective about their lives or work. Monomania leads to failure. The military demands their officers be well-rounded people. The higher you rise, the more education you need. Not just in history and military science, but in sociology, the hard sciences, pyschology, math. To be good at something means to be devoted to it, but real success, real genius, like a Kary Mullis or a Leo Szilard is the ability to be interested in many different things and explore them. Name: Nemesis Email: all@netslaves.com Date: Mon Jun 4 07:16:39 2001 Comment: How the hell does "Alice Hill, ZDNET" rate a quotation alongside F. Scott Fitzgerald? Vain attempt to curry favor? Look at that bland, generic quote. Anyone could've said that, and already have, a million times over. Beyond that, your article did a masterful job taking a simple, one sentence concept and padding it for a whole article. Kind of like what a monomaniac would do.