Perhaps my early dreams were the seeds that helped such hopeful sighs become a reality. The reason we were at the Chateau was to join two other speakers in presenting a day of learning for 200 very successful people. My message was one of tapping into the CAP and CAPE of intelligence. Instead of viewing intelligence as merely IQ alone, to stretch this view and see it as the broader CAP of Creative Smarts Analytical Smarts and Practical Smarts. This model comes from the wonderful Robert Sternberg who I had the pleasure of presenting with at a conference in Minneapolis in 1992.
Successful intelligence is the kind of intelligence used to achieve important goals.
People who succeed, whether by their own standards or by other people's, are those who have managed to acquire, develop, and apply a full range of intellectual skills, rather than merely relying on the 'inert' intelligences that schools so value. These individuals may or may not succeed on conventional tests, but they have something in common that is much more important than high test scores. We all have areas of smartness in which we flourish and we all have areas where we flounder. Successful people know this and enjoy growing their strengths and teamworking with others to improve in their areas of weakness. Successful people work to overcome their weaknesses and to continually improve their strengths through learning.