In success, this is so much more important than intelligence

The modern world lionizes academic intelligence. Yet Financial Times columnist Janan Ganesh notes that of the most successful people he knows, none are the smartest in their organizations or in their age group.

What they have instead is a different way of looking at things. They are not simply optimistic, but have a talent for unusual, even mind-twisting interpretations of events in which some or all will benefit.

Discussing the 2022 French election, one of Ganesh’s friends argued that if far right candidate Marine Le Pen won, it would be great for London because all the smart, creative people would flock to London. Any advance Paris had made on London since Brexit would evaporate!

Ganesh has rarely heard an executive or entrepreneur say anything brilliant. But they are good company because they never mope. It’s a myth that commercially-minded people are greedy - they just see advantage in any situation.

People laugh at the uber-optimist Professor Pangloss in Candide, but a character that Voltaire meant to be ridiculous is actually well-suited for thriving in modern life. 

Consider that the last three British prime ministers to win a parliamentary majority - Tony Blair, David Cameron and Boris Johnson - were “maddeningly perky”, compared to the temperamentally bleak Gordon Brown and Theresa May (who didn’t).

When Oliver Wendell Holmes described Franklin Roosevelt as “a second class intellect” with a “first class temperament”, we should understand it as a compliment. It meant Roosevelt would be more successful than a merely smart president.

But our society is still set up to reward academic intelligence. Tiger parents pay for coaching on passing tests, not on seeing opportunities and thinking creatively. 

Beyond a certain above-average threshold of IQ smarts, the returns to more intelligence are marginal. In fact the only healthy way to navigate today’s disturbing events is to see them differently. 

Academic intelligence is focused on what is “true”, but what matters for life and work success is the usefulness of any belief. Incisive pessimism may seem smart, but optimists know it’s ultimately dumb. Reality is not a collection of facts, but a mirror of beliefs.