Mediocre Intelligence, Outstanding Results
In a world obsessed with “genius,” I’ve come to believe that time spent in a field trumps raw intelligence nearly always.
As studies of laureates show, Nobel Prize winners have IQs between 125 and 160, and separately, that IQ above 120 stops being a strong predictor of life outcomes, such as income levels. So what decides whether you take the Nobel Prize or not?
It’s time.
My belief: Hit a basic intelligence threshold, pick a field with many low-hanging fruit, and push the frontier for long enough. And this isn’t just for Nobel Prizes, it scales to getting tenure, becoming a bestselling author, and becoming a unicorn entrepreneur.
Take the startups I’ve co-founded. We survived five-figure 4Chan scams and subsequent online manhunts for our employees, and the collapse of our biggest clients, leaving us in funding crunches and forced downsizing. During the same time, many organizations in similar situations were born and crashed. Just sticking it out with original beliefs when everyone else bailed made us “successful.”
James Heckman, Nobel economist, echoes this as well, noting that IQ plays just a 1-2% role in success with perseverance and diligence being far better predictors.
Now to you: Which field will you be at the top of over the next decade?
