"Intelligence is a way of acting" — act intelligently and you are intelligent, regardless of IQ. People earning $250,000 aren't 10x smarter than people earning $25,000. You can function at twice your current intelligence by doing what geniuses do.
Four learnable keys to genius
- Clarity — about goals, problems, and above all outcomes. "A hallmark of genius is clarity; a hallmark of failure is fuzziness."
- Concentration — bring intelligence to bear "like a laser beam" on one thing until finished.
- Open mind — ask why, why not, "what are our assumptions, and what if they're wrong?" Errant assumptions lie at the root of most failures.
- Systematic method — most people attack problems "like a dog chasing a car."
Mindstorming — the 20-idea method (exercise)
First thing in the morning, write your goal as a question ("What can I do to earn $45,000 in the next 12 months?") and force yourself to write 20 answers. The first 3–5 are easy; the last 10 are "like squeezing blood from a stone" — yet "sometimes it's the 20th answer that's worth all the other 19." Pick one and implement it immediately. Done 5 days/week = ~5,000 ideas/year, 250 implemented.
The systematic 10-step problem-solving method
- Confident expectations — assume a logical, workable solution exists.
- Positive language — replace "problem" with "situation," better "challenge," best "opportunity." "A problem is something you struggle with; a situation is something you deal with."
- Define it clearly in writing — ~50% of difficulties resolve here. "Unsuccessful people are too lazy to think on paper."
- What are all the possible causes? — another ~25% resolve here.
- What are all the possible solutions? — then ask for the second right answer, the opposite of the solution, what if we did nothing, or lateral moves ("instead of digging this hole deeper, dig another hole"). From here on, think and talk only about solutions — winners ask "What do we do from here?"; losers ask who's to blame.
- Make a decision — any decision is better than none; 80% of decisions should be made immediately. "Being decisive is more important than being correct" — more decisions → more feedback → smarter decisions. For the rest, set a decision deadline.
- Assign responsibility — meetings fail when nobody owns the action.
- Set a deadline.
- Take action — "well begun is half done."
- Inspect what you expect — delegation is not abdication; follow up.
Brainstorming (Osborne, Applied Imagination)
- Ideal group: 4–7 people, spirit of harmony; 15–45 minutes (30 ideal).
- Define the question precisely: not "how can we increase sales?" but "how can we increase sales 20% in the next 90 days?"
- Separate idea generation from evaluation with a "wall of time" — criticism triggers fear of rejection and shuts people down. Quantity in generation, quality in evaluation.
- The leader stimulates, doesn't dominate; record all answers — a breakthrough may not be recognized until later. Brainstorm with your team at least weekly.