CULTIVATE YOUR THREE INTELLIGENCES TO FACE COMPLEXITY

#Intelligence #PersonalDevelopment

How to confidently face an increasingly complex world?

There is only one natural resource: intelligence.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a renowned organizational psychologist, identifies 3 types of intelligence. Each is important, so they are explained right away.

First, the one we have all heard of: IQ, intelligence quotient.

IQ refers to mental ability. What fewer people know is that IQ affects a wide range of real-world outcomes, such as job performance and objective career success.

The main reason is that higher levels of IQ allow people to learn and solve new problems faster. Complex environments are richer in information, which creates a greater cognitive load and demands more brainpower or deliberate thinking from us; we cannot navigate them on autopilot.

IQ is a measure of that intellectual ability, like megabytes or processing speed are a measure of what operations a computer can perform and at what speed. Not surprisingly, there is a substantial correlation between IQ and our mental ability to handle multiple pieces of temporary information at once.

EQ.

EQ stands for emotional quotient. It is our ability to perceive, control, and express emotions. EQ relates to managing complexity in three main ways.

First, people with higher EQ are less susceptible to stress and anxiety. Since complex situations require resources and demands, they are likely to induce pressure and stress. But a high EQ acts as a buffer. Second, it is a key ingredient of interpersonal skills, which means that people with higher EQ are better equipped to navigate complex organizational politics and advance in their careers. Even in today's hyper-connected world, what most employers are looking for is not technical expertise, but soft skills, especially when it comes to management and leadership roles. And third, people with higher EQ tend to be more entrepreneurial, meaning they are more proactive in exploiting opportunities, taking risks, and turning creative ideas into real innovations.

Lastly, CQ, Curiosity Quotient.

CQ refers to having a hungry mind. People with a higher CQ are more curious and open to new experiences. They find novelty exciting and quickly get bored with routine. They tend to generate many original ideas and are counter-conformists. CQ is important when it comes to managing complexity in two main ways.

First, people with a higher CQ are generally more tolerant of ambiguity. This nuanced, sophisticated, and subtle style of thinking defines the very essence of complexity. Second, CQ leads to higher levels of intellectual investment and knowledge acquisition over time, especially in formal domains of education, science, and the arts (this is different from the IQ measurement of raw intellectual power). Knowledge and experience translate complex situations into familiar ones. CQ is therefore the ultimate tool for producing simple solutions to complex problems.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, an organizational psychologist working primarily in the areas of personality profiling, people analytics, talent identification, the interface between human and artificial intelligence, and leadership development. He is currently Professor of Business Psychology at University College London (UCL) and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, as well as Chief Innovation Officer at ManpowerGroup, and was previously CEO of Hogan Assessment Systems.

Some of his books are:

Confidence: How to Overcome Low Self-Esteem, Insecurity, and Self-Doubt, 2013

The Talent Mirage: Why Data, Not Intuition, Is the Key to Unlocking Human Potential, 2017

Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (And How to Fix It), 2019