The New IQ: A New Kind of Intelligence for a New Kind of World
In 2012 some photographs of the iceberg believed to have sunk the Titanic were discovered. Of interest to experts viewing the photos were the unique dimensions of the iceberg; experts estimate it measured between 50–100 feet high and 200–400 feet long. But more interestingly, it was noticed that the iceberg had several flat surfaces large enough to reliably hold many people for long periods of time.
When considered that the Titanic was navigable for a while after it hit the iceberg, it is surmised that many of the Titanic passengers and crew could have climbed aboard the iceberg and found flat places to wait the four hours until the first of the rescue ships arrived. By overlooking the size and shape of the iceberg and fixating on the fact that icebergs sank ships, one expert on creativity noted that the Titanic crew missed the opportunity to save many lives that day.
The New IQ refers to inclusive intelligence and consists of 20 questions identified through a rigorous factor analysis trial of the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM is the human resources arm of the federal government) Employee Viewpoint Survey (EVS) questions. These 20 EVS questions had the highest correlation to inclusive environments of the 87 questions tested. The 20 questions are grouped into 5 Habits of inclusion, “F.O.C.S.E” (Fair, Open, Cooperative, Supportive, Empowering). Furthermore, the 20 EVS questions are referred to in our research as “behaviors”. The New IQ is built upon the concept that individual behaviors, repeated over time, form the habits that create essential building blocks of an inclusive environment. These behaviors can be learned, practiced, and developed into habits of inclusiveness and subsequently improve the inclusive intelligence of organizational members.
The question, then, is why the captain and crew led most of the passengers to their deaths instead of placing the ropes and ladders onto the iceberg?
The answer…
…the captain and the crew suffered from what most of us still suffer from today: a bias in our brain called Functional Fixedness.
Functional Fixedness is a bias that predisposes our brains to fixate on the common use of an object and thus fail to see other possible uses. Many of us, like the crew of the Titanic, have the wrong mental map when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Diversity is commonly seen as something primarily focused around underrepresented groups to the exclusion of the majority, and inclusion is interpreted as a touchy-feely concept where everyone exchanges pleasantries and engages in some mindless pabulum about improving organizational effectiveness. The reality of these two concepts diverges greatly from their conventional understandings. The true value of diversity is the potential to increase group intelligence using different ideas, identities, and information; the real benefit of inclusion as a management strategy is to successfully bring together diverse groups of ideas, identities, and information to improve employee engagement and solve difficult problems.
The cost of not recognizing the impact of functional fixedness is that it promotes the use of inaccurate mental maps, encouraging us to find solutions to problems that either don’t exist or are the wrong problems to undertake.
To understand the cost of an inaccurate mental map, think of it this way: you are sight-seeing in New York City, but you bought a map of Los Angeles by mistake. No matter how fast or how hard you work to successfully move around NYC, you will never have it easy because you have the wrong map. In fact, the harder and faster you try the more frustrated you become because you don’t feel as if you are making progress. The solutions you implement don’t work because you are working with an inaccurate map.
Similarly, most mental maps concerning diversity, inclusion, and intelligence encounter this obstacle. If we continue to view diversity (primarily through race and gender), inclusion ( primarily through having minorities and women at the table with little or no impact), and intelligence (primarily through the lens of only an individual trait) through incomplete and wrong mental maps, we miss the true benefit of mixing people together who are different and bring various strengths to the table. As a result, the hard and difficult problems that face our country and world will continue to go unsolved.
A New IQ…The world of tomorrow will not rely on your individual intelligence, but rather, the collective intelligence of your team.
A few years back, the NBA Finals pitted the Miami Heat, who was led by LeBron James, arguably one of the greatest players ever to play the game and included two other superstars: Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Although led by a great player in their own right — Tim Duncan — the San Antonio Spurs were nonetheless deemed the underdogs due to their lack of individual superstars. While the Heat were heavily favored by most experts, to most everyone’s surprise the Spurs beat the Heat four games to one, winning the championship with relative ease. When asked why the Spurs won so easily, James noted that everyone on the Spurs was “live,” meaning that everyone on the Spurs was a threat to score. The ball did not stick in the hands of any one player. All Spurs players were engaged and included in all facets of the offensive and defensive game plan. No one player on the Spurs dominated a possession; conversely, the Heat ran most of their offense through James.
“Inclusive Intelligence is not about how smart you are as an individual, but instead how smart you make your team.”
The strategy the Spurs implemented to win the championship is the new recipe for winning — not just for NBA championships, but also within federal agencies and organizations. The Spurs utilized what we call inclusive intelligence or a New IQ to defeat the Heat. No one player dominated the Spurs offense; everyone was focused on how they make the team better, not on how well they did individually. This same dynamic is true of organizational teams: it is no longer about how smart you are as an individual, but instead how smart you make your team.
Inclusive intelligence is the intentional actions and behaviors team members take to increase team intelligence.
Professors at MIT have identified that teams and groups do have an intelligence that can be developed, measured, and improved. According to experts, it is this type of intelligence that will be critical in the future. This new insight is a part of a growing body of research that focuses on understanding the nature of collective intelligence and behavior.
Based on our research we believe that collective team intelligence is generated by the inclusive intelligence of it’s members. And is manifesting itself in everything from the success of Broadway shows to the path a soccer ball travels between players. The common factor is the desire of individual team members to do what it takes to make their respective teams more intelligent, productive, creative and successful. We believe this New IQ will be the key source of company, community, and country success in the future. These behaviors can be learned, practiced, and developed into habits of inclusiveness and subsequently improve the inclusive intelligence of organizational members.
Check back for Part 2 tomorrow to read about the Five Inclusive Habits of the New IQ…
(This series of posts are a modified reprint of an article I wrote for Federal Manager’s Magazine in 2014)
