365QOD-Day8

"Creative ideas are free, the execution of a great idea is worth gold"-Anonymous


Many years I read the book  Successful Intelligence: How Practical and Creative Intelligence Determine Success in Life by Robert J. Sternberg.  The first half of the book discusses the failures of standardized tests to properly determine success.  This is OK BUT the second half of the book is where the real value can be found.  Successful Intelligence defines success along three dimension: Analytical/Memory(A/M), Creativity(C), and Practical/Execution(P/E) and the author argues that in order to be successful you need all of these.

Over the years I have thought about these concepts and many times presented them.  I believe that a successful person(100%) would consist of 20% Analytical/Memory, 20% Creative, and 60% Practical /Execution blend. 

Why these? Well, a person has to understand the problem(Analytical) with which they are faced, then come up with a solution(Creative) and lastly implement the solution(Practical).  the book illustrates that if any one of these pieces are missing then success is unlikely. 

Most people easily agree with the 20% for A/M and 20% for C but I often get asked "But why 60% for P/E?"  This is my number based on the 80/20 rule. I argue that 20% goes to Analytical/Memory.  Out of the 80 left over, 80% is the Practical/Execution or about 64% and the other 16% is left over for Creative.  I just simply rounded them down and up to be 20/20/60. 

Without putting emphasis on the Practical/Execution application of ideas a person looses themselves in the analysis and creative solution of problems.  This is OK in and academic world but for the rest of us this is not enough.

In my life I have had many ideas that could have earned me millions.  So I was able to analyze the problem, come up with a creative solution(s) BUT did not have the guts to execute it.  It is no different than you having an idea for a product and six months later walking in a store seeing that idea on a store shelf.  Did you lack the A/M? Did you lack the C? No!  Like me, your P/E mindset was not high enough.

Today's questions are:
What are your  current A/M, C, and P/E intelligence scores and how do you increase your P/E score?