Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

I believe stores like Wegman’s in Rochester, NY,  increases its collective worker IQs and my proof is in the fact the stores hire from every class and every generation and still remain at the top in the Fortune 100 standings. Interestingly they tend to rate highest in worker satisfaction than every business in the nation.

Skeptics still claim IQ is stuck in cement … especially among older workers. What do you think? I suggest that skeptical  leaders assess their intelligence scores for a starter.

One amazing example of the brain’s ability to jack up an IQ comes from the mushroom growth in industrialized nations where IQ scores spiked.

From 1918 until now IQ scores have risen more than 24 points in the US … even while IQ tests used to determine results remain the same. Americans today show an average IQ score of 124 … compared to 100 in the early 1900s.

Since we know the IQ rise is not due to genes… we ask what conditions raise the IQ of workers. In Brain Based problem solving there are five key ways to grow smarter as an adult.

1. Hook a problem within your firm to workers’ interest in solving that problem.

2. Draw people into a creative plan so that diversity works to benefit all. Remember that most workers think diversity training stinks so devise a plan they value.

3. Shatter myths about a person’s business intelligence.

4. Integrate facts and figures across departments through smart skills.
5. Take on any new adventures in ways that embrace serotonin … a hormone for well being … and prevent cortisol … a stress related hormone … in workers.

Finally … to keep IQ on the rise at your workplace… make sure workers are challenged to reflect on what they want from their careers. Keep it simple and watch smart people come onboard with interest … and they will help you to motivate a few of the skeptics who hold back progress in most workplaces.