There are many studies of the qualities of geniuses throughout the ages. The first fact they discovered was that intelligence was not a matter of IQ or academic qualifications. Many so-called geniuses had average or slightly above-average intelligence. Genius or excellent thinking was instead more a matter of attitude and approach toward the inevitable challenges of life. It appears that geniuses develop three qualities over time.
KEEP AN OPEN MIND
First, they approach every problem or situation with an open mind, almost a childlike attitude of exploration and discovery. The more open your mind is to completely new and different approaches to any situation in your life, the more likely it is that you are going to get insights and ideas that move you out of your comfort zone—that enable you to think outside the box. They continually ask
“Why?” and “Why not?” and “What if?”
Second, geniuses carefully consider every aspect of a problem, refusing to jump to conclusions, gathering more and more data instead. They test and validate their tentative conclusions at each stage. They avoid a rush to judgment. They are always open to the possibility that they could be wrong, or that their idea is no good.
THE BEST SOLUTION
Albert Einstein was once asked, “If there was a major emergency or potential disaster that was going to destroy the earth in 60 minutes, and you were asked to find a solution, what would you do?” Einstein replied, “I would spend the first 59 minutes gathering information, and the last minute solving the problem in the best possible way.”
In business today, especially in new product development, the more time you spend working closely with customers to be sure that your new product or service idea is exactly what they want, need, and are willing to pay for, the more likely it is that you will be successful in a fast-changing and highly competitive market.
THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
Third, geniuses of all kinds use a systematic approach to problem solving and decision making. Accomplished mathematicians, physicists, doctors, mechanics, and people in other professions do not throw themselves at a problem like a dog chasing a passing car. Rather, they follow a carefully designed checklist and work their way through a problem, step by step, toward a conclusion. Atul Gawande, in his book The Checklist Manifesto, tells the story of two investment experts, both successful, but one far more successful than the other. It turned out that they both had many years of experience in evaluating and making substantial investments for themselves and their clients.
But the more successful adviser had developed a checklist of essential questions to ask and tests to apply to an investment proposal before making a decision. The other adviser used many of the same techniques and tactics to appraise an investment, but he operated more from intuition and experience. As a result, he often lost money when he shouldn’t have. Here was the interesting point that Gawande made. The first adviser was consistently more successful than the second. But on various occasions, he made mistakes and lost money. The reason was invariably the same.
He had neglected to follow his own checklist. He had missed one or two vital points in his list of important considerations. When he went back to following his checklist meticulously, his investment record improved significantly.