In the process of researching what makes people have the traits of genius, I read many, many interviews and bios of people I believed to set the standard.
The traits of a genius.
These included dozens of successful leaders, from world-class scientists seeking to cure cancer and create new computing architectures, to senior executives at large corporations and entrepreneurs at startups.
It was a very diverse group with habits of highly successful people and traits I attributed to being near-genius.
One of the underlying premises I have concluded is that there is no one “true” path to innovation, so I expected to see a variety of approaches, and that’s indeed what I found.
Some of the people were slow and deliberate, spending years or even decades on a difficult problem. Others were fast and agile, iterating and pivoted toward a viable solution.
However, I also noticed that some remarkably constant themes emerged. Over time, it became clear that while the people were vastly different in background, training, personality type and method, they tended to have four attributes in common.
While none of these will make you successful by themselves, you are unlikely to be successful without them.
So what makes us creative? Our ability to form our own intent. It is only through creating a purpose that is uniquely our own that we can fully embody the human spirit.
Here are the characteristics of near-genius trait people that stand out to me:
They read and go to talks. A sure sign of intelligence is reading and listening. The average CEO reads 50 books a year.
Warren Buffett spends most of his time reading. He’s fond of saying “the more you learn, the more you earn.”
How geniuses behave.
Love the challenge of big problems
The most striking thing I noticed in my research was how near genius people approached problems. They didn’t wait for them to arise but actively sought them out.
It is that passion for solving problems, rather than any particular personality type or ambition, that separates all of them from most people and organizations.
Steve Blank, whose ideas inspired the Lean Startup movement, encourages entrepreneurs to “get out of the building” and talk to customers.
One of the most interesting people was Jim Allison. Low-key to the extreme, he’s the type of guy who you would scarcely notice in a room. As a boy, he decided to be a scientist because he just liked “figuring things out.”
So for more than 20 years, that’s what he did, sought out gaps in our understanding of the immune system and tried to figure them out.
But in the mid-90’s he had what turned out to be a revolutionary idea. His decades of study led him to believe that our bodies were shutting off the immune system too early to fight cancer.
It was this insight that led him to develop cancer immunotherapy, which today is considered a miracle cure that saves the lives of thousands of terminally ill patients who once had no hope.
Allison is an extreme case, but I found that most successful people had some version of the same story. Most never dreamed they would do anything important; they were trying to solve a problem.
Traits of genius … continuous learners
They read a lot and are constantly still learning. My father always took us to historical places or natural wonders during our summer vacations. Battlefields. Museums. Grand Canyon. Stuff like that.
Our pleas to go to Disneyland went unheard. My father wanted to learn things on his days off—and his days on too.
He not only read both fiction and nonfiction, but he also watched many documentaries.
Seeking new perspectives
Intelligent people aren’t afraid or ashamed to tell you when they don’t know something. I’ve had more than one doctor try and fake his way through a conversation when I knew more about a medical condition than he did.
When I found a doctor, who said, “I don’t know. I’ll research that.”—I kept that doctor.
I guess they realize that the way you learn things is often to ask.
Little small talk
To them, small talk is simply that. Small. Meaningless even. It’s a waste of time.
They proactively listen to others and digest what was said before explaining their counter-argument.
They bounce ideas and hypotheses off of others rather than discuss random pop psychology or the latest news on a celebrity couple.
In short, they shamelessly focus on what’s important.
Traits of genius … brutally honest with what they don’t know
The signs of a genius person.
I think a common trap that many people fall under is trying to pretend we understand something that we don’t know while nodding our heads meaninglessly.
We do this because we don’t want to appear uninformed and unknowing. (I’m still working to improve on this myself)
I think intelligent people get straight to the point. They say “I don’t understand this, can you explain it to me like I’m 5?”
They could care less about what others perceive their understanding or intelligence to be. What they do care about is catching up and learning so that they can understand in the first place.
They know that without a solid understanding of the basics, there’s no hope for them to grasp the more complex material.
Good sources: Online Resources … 19 to Learn the Best Practical Skills
Traits of genius … consider different perspectives
Truly intelligent people can inhabit a different perspective, especially a perspective they disagree with. Abraham Lincoln would sometimes argue with a friend from one perspective, and then they would switch and argue from the opposite perspective.
Nothing to prove
They never feel the need to prove to other people how smart they are. They don’t brag about it. Casual acquaintances probably don’t even know. I think this is because they are so secure about their intelligence that it’s a non-issue to them.
My father went to U Buffalo and had a stunning memory. He never used his IQ as a way to make other people feel inferior. People who want to let everyone know how smart they are—yeah, I doubt they are.
Traits of genius … have patience
Leonardo Da Vinci called it “sfumato” or “smoke.” The idea is that not everything is clear, and the desire to have an answer now can lead someone into error.
Intelligent people have patience with difficult, dense, or even ambiguous or vague subjects. Patience is defined as “the ability to endure, ” and in this case, a sign of intelligence is enduring not having a clear, definite answer.
Know how to explain their craft
This especially applies to people who are professionals or experts in their field.
This is because they’ve been through it all. They know what it’s like to come across the topic for the first time. To progressively learn more about it as a student. To having dedicated hours studying and researching and becoming an expert.
They know what the stages of learning are, and can explain their craft to anyone in those respective stages.
Albert Einstein is well-known for saying the following quote: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your continuous learning?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on learning from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
