The smartest kid in the room

If I were to tell you that a corporate meeting room and a school classroom are two different environments, you'd probably say, sure!  I'm not so sure.

In school, appearing smart and eager to share your knowledge of facts and figures, trivia and the like are highly valued.  Our society reinforces ( confuses?) being smart with having a good memory for facts and figures. 

What happens when you are faced with having to solve a new problem, using incomplete information, under time pressure and as part of a larger team with conflicting interests?  

Look teacher, look how smart I am. I have ten factoids about the situation at hand and the other kid doesn't!!!  I am a valuable employee!

Did you get any closer to solving the issue? No.

Did you waste everybody's time? Yes

Did you undermine the team?  Yes.

The real skill to develop after school is effectiveness.  Effectiveness is part of what I call practical intelligence. It is the most valuable skill you can develop in life.  It involves understanding the facts and developing new solutions, but more importantly, being able to interact with others in the spirit of solving the issue in the most practical way.   

Effectiveness is not ego focused, is situation focused.  Look at the military doing their job, you can see when they are fully engaged in their actions, there is an economy of motion and complete focus.  This is what martial artists call Mushin, mind-no-mind.  A state of mind where all your mental resources are engaged in a productive way and there is no shred of ego or self consciousness at play, you are both competent in your individual actions and function as part of a larger team.  This is a great mental state to be in.  This is where all the good stuff you have inside has a chance to be expressed.  

Please say goodbye to grade-school.  This is the real world.  A much cooler place if you give it a chance.