Why Do Smart People Fail?
By leighz
@leighz (456)
April 15, 2012 12:32am CST
I came across an article that explains why smart people fail. There are four major reasons:
A. Lack of social skills-
Emotional intelligence is different from IQ. During the old days, it was widely believed that in order for you to be successful, you have to have a high IQ. Studies shows that this is a misconception. Let's take this as an example, a good leader or a successful person has to have these characteristics: Determined, courageous, persistent, cooperative, has a vision. All these, do not require a higher IQ, rather social skills and emotional intelligence. Being a good listener, being sensitive to others and being able to take constructive criticisms will make someone a successful person. For these are quualities that showcases your interpersonal skills and will help in managing stress, that comes along with the demands of your job.
B. Scattered Focus-
Smart people tend to do a lot of things at the same time. It maybe because they want to maximize their potential. However, this method do not gain good results. It is important to recognize one's limitations and establish priorities. Refocus is the key, finish one project at a time and give an ample time working on it to gain more than satisfactory results.
C. Lack of commitment-
Sometimes the main cause of failure is not fully trusting yourself that you can do it. Commitment is very important to be successful in relationships, business, work and school. There are times when we know the topic however we lack self esteem. Faking it or projecting self esteem is fundamental in getting the attention you want. Some people no matter how smart they are, always ends their sentences with a question mark tone. This signifies uncertainty and lack of confidence. Learn how to project your voice and monitor it, as well as your actions. As the saying goes, "Talk the talk and walk the walk".
D. Bad Luck-
This is inevitable, don't feel dishearted when you fail at something. I've read a magazine article with a quote from Oprah Winfrey, "Don't be afraid to fail, for failure is a way to success". Which corelates with the importance of having a high emotional intelligence and learning from bad experiences. So, do not blame yourself, turn to prayers and always remember that you have choices, "When God closes a door, he opens a window".
Other than this what else do you think are the reason why smart people fail or which do you think is the number 1 reason?
4 people like this
15 responses
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
15 Apr 12
Actually, the "scattered focus" and "social skills" part of your theory is not necessarily correct. There are many highly intelligent people that have ADD/ADHD or other "mental disorders", such as Aspberger's Syndrome. They generally do not intuitively have the social skills that "normal" people have, but that does not necessarily mean that they will not be successful in their field. In addition, they do tend to naturally multitask - it is not "scattered focus" but rather a natural ability to simultaneously perform multiple tasks without losing focus on any of them.
1 person likes this
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
15 Apr 12
I agree that it might apply to some people but not to others. Some people can naturally multitask without losing focus, so it is an asset to them that they should not try to change, because it will not keep them from attaining their goals. However, just because a person is "smart" does not mean that he or she can naturally multitask without losing focus, and I think that is when there is a problem. Some people believe that they should be able to do things that other people of similar intelligence can do, but that is not necessarily the case. Each person has to find his or her individual strengths and weaknesses and try to capitalize on the strengths while reducing the effects of the weaknesses.
There is a reason why many highly intelligent people with Asperger's Syndrome and certain other disorders go into fields like computers or engineering and excel in their fields - they are capitalizing on their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses, because many positions in these fields do not involve a lot of social interaction.
1 person likes this
@leighz (456)
•
15 Apr 12
You are absolutely correct. Conditions like Asperger's Syndrome is not a hindrance to success, but majority of such cases may find it hard to get the job they wanted because they are in the wrong field. Therefore if this is the case, the suggested ways mention above can be helpful for them to attain success.
@AgentGulaman (3546)
• Philippines
15 Apr 12
Yes, I do agree with this. The notion of versatility and multitasking is over rated. it really is not beneficial. Being goal oriented and focused gives out the best and most efficient results. I learned that the hard way. I always try to do multitasking before and just recently realized that I am messing my life doing so. So know I have a plan and goal whenever I try to do something. Life is so much better when you take things slowly, attack it with focus, and taking down challenges one at a time.
1 person likes this
@AgentGulaman (3546)
• Philippines
15 Apr 12
I can tell that you should be referring to nerdy people and not smart people. Because if an individual is smart, he will know this all along and will make adjustments for self improvement in order to be successful. You must be referring to the nerdy people who spends their life in improving their theoretical knowledge and not improving other aspects of life. Being smart is different from being nerdy. Smart people has a life while nerdy people don't. But there are some which are geniuses and are smart. These are the individuals who do great things in life. The power of combining mind power and being smart in using it. Just my thoughts about this topic.
@leighz (456)
•
15 Apr 12
Nerdy people can be one of the best examples of those lacking social skills, and they're smart. You can't consider yourself smart if you can't think rationaly. The definition of smart is so broad, but when a person speaks with content and can present an idea without difficulty then for me I consider them smart.
1 person likes this
@flowerfest08 (1677)
•
15 Apr 12
I'll go with bad luck and lack of social skills... well most smart people believe in themselves too much and having hard time to trust other peoples capacity,they think they could do anything by themselves. and of course bad luck, even if he/she is the most smart in the world if they don't have good luck then it's all useless.
1 person likes this
@superbadx (484)
• Malaysia
15 Apr 12
As leighz said in the first post, most smart people fail is because the lack of social skills. Smart people also need friends to hang out and share their problems, because friends are like our personal physiatrist to share and solve some of our problem. There are also smart people that just think that they are a failure because they have no social skills to start with. Another opinion of mine is that they think too much and think that the world is just another lie or things like that.
1 person likes this
@lumenmom (1986)
• United States
16 Apr 12
Well this explains why I was always considered a smart person but have been homeless and jobless off and on over the last three years. I can see where all of these factors apply to me and have undoubtedly contributed to my lack of success. I see so many people who are not smart at all, but they have a way of convincing people help them get where they want to go. They believe in themselves and so they are able to sell themselves to other people. When things don't work out, they get back up and try something different. I think the biggest smart people fail is ironically the fear of failure itself!
@garson (884)
• United States
30 Apr 12
I think the word 'smart' can be applied to many people while usually smartness is perceived as someone who have higher or better intelligence. This article mentions possible reasons why SOME smart people fail. These reasons could also be the reasons why many people are not successful, not just those who are perceived to have SMARTNESS.
Some people who are considered smart or intelligent are NERDS. They know so much about knowledge whether through academia and anything, but they may not connect with many others socially. They could connect very well with people in the same field or who can share their nerdiness. Within this circle, NERDS can be successful, maybe not in many areas.
There is also a concept called 'street smart'. This concept does not usually get respected in mainstream society, but can be useful at times. Basically, it has to do with one's success of living and surviving in the ghetto. If you don't know the word ghetto usually refers to bad neighborhood or an area where criminal or illegal activities usually occur.
There are still many other kinds of smartness. Nowadays, having a higher education is not enough. Working hard does not necessarily lead to many success. The trend has change: Not just work harder, work smarter, which involves those possible factors involved/mentioned. Someone who works smarter, does not necessarily have to spend long or many hours at work.
@Extourmed (191)
• Bulgaria
15 Apr 12
Well, I think that all starts very early on in school, kids are taught that you need at least a 'C' grade to move on, and that getting an 'A' is the best. The smart kids figure out, somewhere around 1st or 2nd grade, that there really is no appriciable difference between a C and an A, and start tending towards the C because they do enough to get by, and no more. Then around 3rd or 4th, parents and teachers start whining about "you're not working up to your potential." Around 6th or so, you want your parents to leave you alone... so when they whine about your potential, you think that if you do well, they will leave you alone... so you start actually trying. The result? Even MORE attention (praise this time, but you don't care.. you just want them to go away). The effect? Getting good grades didn't get the results that you wanted, just more work.The net result of this is that during the "formative years" in school, kids were taught that "good enough" is good enough, and never learned to try. When they get out into the work force, they do the same thing. The ones that get out of that rut and succeed instead of fail are the ones that eventually learn that if they apply themselves, they can get out of the rat race faster.As far as smart people doing dumb things, I think that comes from thinking that you DO know when you don't, and making bad assumptions and acting on them... just like everyone else does.
@leighz (456)
•
16 Apr 12
Yes that makes a lot of sense. You're comment reminds me of my 8 year old cousin who dislike studying a lot. When we ask him, how come his grades are very average. He responded with, "Uncle said, the government does not require you to have an excellent grade when you work for them. I intend to live my life as normal as possible, then work for the government". He is very smart, and he knows his capabilities but he doesn't exert much effort. We don't push him though, we want him to discover for himself that good comes to those who persevere.
@thuglove1722 (343)
• United States
15 Apr 12
as far as smart people failing it doesn't exactly come down to all of them being scared or having a lack of commitment, there's plenty of non-smart people who are afraid of commitment not just smart ones. but i would chose bad luck as the main culprit for smarts or for anywhere for that matter
@shekinahmia (233)
• Philippines
15 Apr 12
I'd have to go for the first major reason, which is the lack of social skills. Smart people tend to focus more on their work and be successful in it, than spend time socializing with others. Some of them, though not all, are introvert and tends to just keep things to themselves.
1 person likes this
@leighz (456)
•
15 Apr 12
The nerds at school can relate to what you just mentioned. This skill should be developed at a young age, exposure to activities like self-development can help. When I was in gradeschool I always join summer camps to mingle with other kids my age. This helped me later in life, in adjusting to different personalities and accept what comes my way. I would say it was a good training ground.
1 person likes this
@Erynn14 (357)
• Malaysia
15 Apr 12
I think one of the reason might be they will over confidence in what they are doing. Somehow, what they did with full confidence might turn things another way round. And for the reason you wrote, I think the very first Lack of social skills might be the number 1 reason they fail. This is because most of the smart people might only study for the whole day. They might lock themselves in their own room and study non-stop. Not even sharing any thinking or their life with family.
1 person likes this
@leighz (456)
•
15 Apr 12
Good point. Isolation is never a good thing, you will miss out on things that's more important in life. And having social skills guarantees you of a job in the future. Nowadays, employers are really careful in choosing a candidate to fill out a position in their company. During interviews they make proper asessment of the candidate's whole being.
1 person likes this
@cnDaos (8)
•
16 Apr 12
I agree with the first reason. Having an above-average IQ does not always mean they would be successful in life. Knowledge and practical skills may get you the job but people skills is definitely one factor that would make you excel and progress in the the field. Almost every career entails working with others, thus requiring that the person should know how to relate and communicate with others effectively. As the saying goes "no man is an island". I guess we may look at IQ as the "island" (with all the resources we need for survival), but people skills would be the "boat" that can take you to places.
@leighz (456)
•
16 Apr 12
Cool analogy. Yes your knowledge about the field will get you the job, but your skills to deal with other people helps you keep the job. There are people that have high social skills and wherever you place them, they are welcomed and able to gain respect from who they work with.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
15 Apr 12
I think the main reason either then bad luck is that they can see ahead and if they feel that the outcome might be bad ninety percent of the time, they sabotage themselves because they think they will not be in the ten percent who fail. It also depends on the age of the intelligent one. For instance if one is a teenager and has the iq of 200, then it is more likely that he will be unable to take constructive criticism and more likely not be able to interact with others. Not trusting yourself is also a good reason but it has nothing to do with lack of commitment. What happens is that one sabotages themselves or stops prematurely. That means that supposing you are inventing a machine that will transport men to other planets ala Star Trek. You go on for years, go back and forward correcting such a such a mistake, but when you get almost to the end, just before you discover that by speeding up the machine to 10000 mph, you stop at 9999 and try it then. So it is the last step.
