To determine whether being smart meant being rich, Economist Jay Zagorsky concluded what we all already know. Brains do not equal riches. Zagorsky says,

"Intelligence is not a factor for explaining wealth. Those with low intelligence should not believe they are handicapped, and those with high intelligence should not believe they have an advantage."

A quick rundown of failures casued by smart people fooing around.

Long-Term Capital Management: Started by two winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Enron: Run by smart consulting types and consulting services by Mckinsey
The Sub-prime crisis: So many overpaid bankers, I lost count.

Is there a limit to being smart and effective?

Evidence 1. "Once someone has reached an IQ of somewhere around 120, having additional IQ points doesn't seem to translate into any measurable real-world advantage."
- Malcolm Gladwell

Evidence 2. "If you are in the investment business and have an IQ of 150, sell 30 points to someone else."
Warren Buffet

Why do smart people fail as magificiently as they do?
Basically, their arrogance causes their downfall. Consider the evidence from Jim Collins' "Good to great", whereCollins conludes his survey of great companies by saying that the best CEOs are down-to-earth guys, not necessarily the smartest brains around, but they are hard-working and they take nothing for granted.

For more on this topic, read this brilliant post by Anand Chokkavelu


Also read:
How to Be Successful #1: Put the Hours in


Read The Successmanual Online  | Get Our RSS Feed  | Follow us on Twitter