Why Being Smart is No Guarantee of Success
By: Dr. Audrey
Tags: Self Improvement, Work, Education, Learning, Psychology

Why Being Smart is No Guarantee of Success

It takes hard work and diligence as well

Photo by sean Kong on Unsplash

I was only a kid, but I still clearly remember the day my mom returned from Germany and her grammar school reunion.

Both my parents are German, and trips back and forth between Germany and the States weren’t a big deal. So it wasn’t the trip that piqued my attention.

It was what she told me:

“Do you know what surprised me the most about seeing my old classmates?” my mother asked. I shook my head. “The most successful people weren’t the ones you’d predict,” she said. “In fact, Hans and Jürgen and Else and Brigitte — the smartest kids — turned out not to be the stars.”

“The biggest success was Benno,” she said. “Benno! He struggled in every subject — except math.” My mother stared off, smiling to herself. She shook her head, and continued. “Turns out, he started his own engineering firm. Benno employs half the town!”

“And he’s quite the charmer,” my mom mused, smiling in a way I’d never seen her smile.

Two things that caught my attention during this conversation:

My mom had a crush, and What? The smartest students weren’t the most successful?

The stark surprise of both observations burned the moment into my memory.

Back to school

It wasn’t until years later that the memory popped into my mind.

I had been teaching high school for a few years. Over time, I always seemed to end up with classes at both ends of the teaching spectrum: the highest and lowest levels — though no school administrator would ever publicly call them such. Regardless of school or district, students are tracked. Divided. Segmented into groups. Trust me on this.

At the time, I was assigned two sections of the top tier kids. Congrats, the principal said, you’re teaching Honors now.

Not-So-Honors English

After 17 years of teaching, I can make the informed observation that Honors kids are placed in that class for one or more of several reasons (not necessarily in order):

They’re motivated students They love the subject matter (here, literature and writing) They identify as “college-bound” They have high test scores They’re labeled “talented and gifted” They’re pushed or persuaded into the course by parents

During my 4th year (the year I actually began understanding how to teach), I vividly remember two very different Honors students.

Two very different students — Two very different outcomes

Adam

First, Adam (not his real name). Adam was struggling. He didn’t read the assigned literature, turn in work, or participate in class discussions. I called home to request a meeting.

That next Tuesday, Adam’s mother began the 7 a.m. meeting by telling me that his IQ was 141. I told her Adam wasn’t finishing his work. She repeated his IQ number. I asked her for some ideas that might help. She again told me Adam’s IQ. I glanced at Adam. He was tapping his feet and looking around the room. I had the feeling he’d witnessed similar meetings before.

The meeting ended. The semester moved on. I kept trying to engage Adam, but he ended the year with a D.

While each student and situation is unique, Adam (and his mother) highlighted a phenomenon I observed then, and have continued to observe since:

Intelligence alone doesn’t cut it.

Or, as Neil, my English department chair explained it:

“Audrey, the world’s filled with MENSA-level folks living underemployed in basement apartments while extolling how smart they are to the world.”

It takes more than brains to be successful. In fact, it takes brains, plus another unique ingredient.

Clarice

Clarice (not her real name) probably shouldn’t have been on my Honors attendance sheet. Her reading and writing scores were low. Her writing sample was peppered with errors.

But Clarice appeared at my desk a day before the semester’s start, class change form in hand.

“Please let me in,” she begged. “I’ll work hard.”

I was skeptical. A newbie, I thought Honors was reserved for the best and brightest. Little did I know.

I signed the form, and she grinned.

The semester started. Honors moves quickly and massive homework is required. For the first few weeks, Clarice fumbled. She seemed disorganized. Chaotic. The reading overwhelmed her. Her grade plummeted from an A- to a low C.

Often, I skipped lunch to get caught up in my classroom. Usually, a student (or 2 or 3) would join me to study, finish homework, or just chill. I let them. I remembered what it was like, trying to find a safe or quiet spot far from the madding crowd.

One day, Clarice showed up. Soon, she came daily with her brown bag and her novel, wedging herself behind a desk to read. Or she’d sit at a computer and write. Sometimes she asked for help, but usually she worked silently and alone.

Daily, diligently, she wrote. Daily, dutifully, she edited and proofed her papers. Daily, devotedly, she read.

By semester’s end, Clarice had one of the top grades in class — and trust me when I say the competition for highest grade in Honors is fierce. Clarice’s hard work changed the course of her academics: she became one of her class’s valedictorians.

As a teacher, I developed further insight as a result of having Clarice — and other students like her — in class.

Intelligence is great. But intelligence and diligence? That combo wins the day — and year.

“Traits [outside of aptitude and talent] such as attention, self-regulation, and perseverance in childhood have been investigated by psychologists, economists, and epidemiologists, and some have been shown to influence later life outcomes.” — John Lynch et al., School of Public Health, University of Adelaide, “A systematic review and meta-analysis of effects of early life non-cognitive skills on academic, psychosocial, cognitive and health outcomes,” 2018

Years and Students Later

Since my early, fumbling years of teaching, I’ve taught and tutored different levels and different students: high school, university, and grad students — at public and private schools alike.

Almost every year, I encounter an Adam — a student convinced smarts alone will lead to success.

But every year, I discover Clarices as well — students who combine intelligence with diligence. Usually, they rely much more on the latter. And almost always — eventually — success is theirs.

“The differences between the smart and the not-so-smart shrink quite a bit if they both work hard. That means that talent still counts, but hard work puts you right up there.” — Dr. Piers Steel, “Hard Work Beats Talent (But Only If Talent Doesn’t Work Hard)”

These days, I say: Don’t give me labels. I don’t want my students painted as high-ability or high-needs. I don’t care if they’re TAG or ADD. Don’t flaunt their test scores or reveal their GPAs.

No: just give me students, free from acronyms and identifiers.

Oh, and this: I’ll take a classroom full of hard workers any day over a roomful of kids who’ve been labeled smart.

Why?

They’re the Benno’s of the world. The ones who struggled but kept at it. They’re the surprisingly successful. They’re often the underestimated, slowly and surely gaining their lead.

And, often, they’re the underdogs — the ones that had to work their way to the top.

Also — they had to muscle their way past the false idea that brains or talent alone will get you there.

“There is now good evidence that basic abilities predict success in a wide range of complex tasks, from chess to music, even among highly skilled performers.” — David Z. Hambrick and Elizabeth J. Meinz, ‘Limits on the Predictive Power of Domain-Specific Experience and Knowledge in Skilled Performance,” 2011

Because it takes more than brains. And it always has.