Your IQ (or intelligence quotient) is the abstract capacity at which you are able to process information. While IQ is certainly important for life and work, it turns out that cognitive intelligence isn’t everything when it comes to success.
Just as important as your IQ is your CQ (curiosity, or creativity, quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient). Having exceptional ability in one quotient—like intelligence—is great, but having a good balance between all three areas (ICE) is what helps propel those we call “geniuses” to excel.
Over at the Harvard Business Review, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic explains why curiosity and emotional intelligence are just as important as cognitive intelligence:
…People with higher EQ tend to be more entrepreneurial, so they are more proactive at exploiting opportunities, taking risks, and turning creative ideas into actual innovations…
CQ leads to higher levels of intellectual investment and knowledge acquisition over time, especially in formal domains of education, such as science and art…. Knowledge and expertise, much like experience, translate complex situations into familiar ones, so CQ is the ultimate tool to produce simple solutions for complex problems.
In other words: IQ is about managing a lot of information in the short term, while CQ deals with overall knowledge and risk-taking, and EQ entails the ability to perceive and control emotions. Having a high IQ allows you to process rich, complex information better, but the ability to adapt to uncertainty and produce simple solutions for complex situations are all due to high levels of EQ and CQ .
Having the right blend of all three areas—intelligence, curiosity, and empathy—means being able to understand problems, generate novel solutions, and execute on ideas. If you’re lacking in any one area, you can increase your likelihood of having a successful career by making up for it in one of the other areas.
This is greats news for those of us who may have less-than-ideal IQs; since IQ is something research shows we can’t always improve throughout life, while empathy and curiosity can be developed.
To develop your CQ you can’t take things for granted. You must use the feeling of boredom as a flag to explore and learn, and most importantly, to never stop asking questions. To quote Albert Einstein, “The important thing is not to stop questioning… Never lose a holy curiosity.”
To develop your EQ is a little tougher, but still do-able: when people are talking to you, listen intently, try to imagine what those around you are thinking and feeling, and focus on outrospection whenever you find yourself stuck on a problem or situation.
Intelligence certainly matters, but without curiosity and empathy it’s just not as powerful. Focus on building all three areas in order to really thrive and succeed.
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