Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Well, I guess it's good to know I could never be a policeman.

But, what about the guy who stopped me and gave me a ticket the other day?

Hey Bill, by any IQ standards - you hit the peaks!

The part of this story that borthers me is that misconception about intelligence is constantly used to keeps people from using their brain.

Perhaps you could have told him this story:-) and he might have helped us to update what it means to be smart in a world that really depends on intelligence -- the kind that's genuine!

People are often shocked when they hear new facts about the brain - that are ignored in bureaucracies such as a police force and many others. It hurts us all! Thoughts?

That must be a heck of a police department. I've spent a good deal of my career working with police officers who are among the brightest people I routinely come in contact with. Given the fact that the job of a patrol officer involves mastering knowledge and application of the penal code and that investigators routinely need to connect a variety of dots, I'm not sure I'd want to be served by a department that didn't want its police to be "too smart."

As to IQ. It's measured by any of a number of tests. Those tests can give different readings. Whatever readings they give, they only measure what Howard Gardner called "logical-mathematical" intelligence. The intelligence that makes my son-in-law capable of instantly knowing where he is and how to get where he wants to go is nowhere to be found in the standard intelligence test, but you sure want someone you're with to have it when you're in a strange place.

Better than "how smart are you?" is the question "How are you smart?" That helps you find your strengths and the stuff to build a career on. That helps you appreciate things others do well and easily that you find difficult.