I want to share my expectations for this blog and tell what actually drives me in sharing and helping. This will give more information to you, my dear readers, what you can expect from this blog in return.
Intelligence types
I want to confess – I am not smart at all. There are myriads of theories what is intellect and how to measure it (if it is even possible) and everybody finds the one that fits their understanding of the world and society.
My favourite theory is the Triarchic theory of intelligence, which states that there are three types of intelligence:
- practical intelligence, the one stays close to “street smart” – ability to efficiently solve day-to-day problems, from finding the most efficient route to the gas station to optimising day schedule to complete all those to-do list items
- analytical intelligence, or componential one – ability to process information and produce problem solutions that are mostly relying on fusion of existing approaches and techniques
- creative intelligence – the one that actually produces something new and innovative. You can argue that nothing is actually new and everything is connected to something, but let us say that the products of creative intelligence are as far as possible from typical solution that we see everyday
Smart or stubborn?
From childhood and pre-school, particularly from early advanced calculus classes and chess training, I have realised that I can not really produce anything creative enough – no beautiful solutions to tricky math problems, no genius combinations in chess.
It took some time to have peace with this, but at some point I realised that
If you are not the smartest, you can still be the most stubborn one
This became a motto for life and I hope this could be helpful for those who struggle, who feels stupid and left behind. You are not alone at all, it is totally fine not to be a genius (I mean, if you are so self-aware, then you are definitely doing at least good!)
Of course, being stubborn also needs certain qualities of your character and it depends on the way our brains work (for example, is your brain ready to sacrifice short-term gains for something bigger in the future or not), but at least you can master instruments and ways to become more stubborn. They say that you can become more creative, but I have not tried it yet.
Superstars and rockstars
Another way to view the problem of intelligence is to use wonderful definition of superstars and rockstars from Radical Candor book by Kim Malone Scott
- Superstars are all about creativity and ambitions – they generate ideas that change the world, they push innovations, they dream and they achieve. At the same time, they might experience troubles with pulling themselves together, they depend on the mood and inspiration, sometimes they are harsh and rude
- Rockstars are all about stability and reliability – they keep things running, they ensure the quality, they are the ones who are very productive and stable. At the same time, they struggle with finding truly great solutions to the problems and they may appear to be too cautious when making decisions
It is impossible to be 100% superstar or rockstar, but I am sure you already know to what side you tend to.
The goal
This blog concentrates on the second type of intelligence mentioned above, but will be interesting for superstars and rockstars. I will be sharing working techniques that help become more efficient, more persistent, more dedicated to personal or team or company goals.
Aside for efficiency improvement, I will share my experience in management and software development organisation, which might be helpful for software engineering departments and teams.
The beauty of the approaches to efficiency and productivity is that they are universal, they can be applied to various areas.
This is what this blog is needed for – make management, software engineering, mentoring, and life in general more efficient. You are efficient when you move fast and you like it.