11
Why IQ isn't Enough
“OK you've convinced me.” Debra got straight down to business as she brought coffee for the two of them. “I think the definition you have of EI is useful and I can see how EI helps in managing or mastering the matrix. But can it help us recruit better people? How can we test EI? And how is EI different from EQ which I see referred to in some of the articles you sent me?”
“I think EI and EQ refer to the same thing,” Johann replied. “EI is emotional intelligence and EQ is emotional quotient which I think is meant to remind us of IQ or what I suppose we must call ‘general intelligence’. I prefer EI because I think it focuses the mind on the fact that it's about having intelligence around emotions and the ability to improve that. I don't like EQ because the focus seems to be on the emotions which doesn't seem very helpful as surely everybody has an EQ or, to put it another way, an amount of emotions that they will experience and react to. Emotional intelligence – EI – is about having the ability to acknowledge these emotions so that you can use them or manage them effectively.”
“I'm still not sure why there has to be an emotional ‘intelligence’. Isn't IQ enough?” Debra's cynicism seemed to have returned.
“Look, according to studies in the 1980s and 1990s, there was less than a 25 per cent correlation between IQ, or general intelligence, and success (measured as academic achievement and occupational status) so there is a lot left to account for. We've all heard stories of taxi drivers with PhDs. Or met crazy bright guys working behind bars or in 35 degree heat as labourers. Or the woman who never learned to read so who knows how bright she is? Obviously many factors come into play – dumb luck of birth included – but let's say that EI is even just part of the other 75 per cent? I'd say it's worth looking at.”
Debra agreed. “OK. But it's extraordinarily difficult to get people to own emotions. I remember seeing an external facilitator who asked a group how they were feeling and he had to ask five different times before they would use an adjective. They said things like ‘he shouted’ or, when pressed, would admit something about the other person's emotions, for example, ‘he's obviously angry’ but then wouldn't admit they had an emotion about that.
“And I've noticed that people often avoid acknowledging emotions, or signs of emotion, if they feel that they've won. I saw a guy the other day who finished the meeting with a hearty ‘So glad we've all agreed!’ when, actually, at least 40 per cent of the people in the room weren't convinced. The ones who seemed convinced were split into those who didn't understand it and those who didn't care. This must have been obvious to him. Or it should have been. But he seemed genuinely surprised when the plan didn't get put into action and everybody started to avoid him.”
“Couldn't he have scared them into submission, into doing what they promised?”
Johann was joking but Debra took him seriously. “OK. Fine but fear is an emotion. If the person doing the scaring is doing it intentionally – a teacher or a parent with kids for example or a boss laying out a serious situation – and they're aware of the impact they're having and have considered then that's fine. Those people have emotional intelligence – you might question their conclusions but their methods are sound and they may know something you don't.
“But if they are doing it by default – without making any judgements or even being aware that there are decisions to make and other options available – that's a different story. Same thing if they don't know the impact they are having or don't care. And if they don't have any other options then they certainly aren't high in EI. That's what I think!”
Debra seemed quite exercised by the thought and stopped for a moment. Then, as if to back up her opinion, she continued. “Warren Buffett is probably high in EI – I think I remember he wrote something about using love over fear in leading others.”
“Really?” Johann made a note to look it up later.
“So, how can we make sure we hire people with high EI? Can we test for it?” Debra returned to her original question.
“Some of the experts in this field seem to believe, more or less, that there's no point in many of the assessments out there because they are self-reported and let's face it, we can all think of someone who believes themselves to be emotionally intelligent but has genuinely no idea how he comes across to others. Or knows how they come across but believes that they don't have a choice or that the other person (more likely, people) needs to change for them. There are people who continue to believe that the problem is how they are perceived and not how they act, even when that belief makes their lives harder. And they know it.”
Debra could think of a number of individuals like this.
Johann continued: “But even the ability-based tests, like the one Mayer and some of his colleagues developed, are a bit problematical because although they ask people how they would behave, people tend to answer based on what they know or feel about how they should behave. Those are two very different things! And even if it works there's the problem that you're only measuring ability rather than the individual's potential to learn or get more able at this ‘soft stuff,’ which is surely important?”
Debra looked at Johann and asked: “So is there a test you like?”
Johann thought. “You can measure your EI using Mayer and Salovey's model with the,” he took a deep breath, “Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). It tests your abilities on each of Mayer and Salovey's four branches of emotional intelligence by asking you a number of questions and generating scores for each of the branches as well as a total score.”
“Just like an IQ test,” Debra suggested.
“Yes. But central to the four-branch model is the idea that EI requires attunement to social norms so the,” he took another deep breath, “MSCEIT is not scored like an IQ test. It's scored in a consensus fashion, with higher scores indicating higher overlap between an individual's answers and those provided by a worldwide sample of respondents. The MSCEIT can also be expert-scored, so that the amount of overlap is calculated between an individual's answers and those provided by a group of 21 emotion researchers.”
“So there's no right or wrong answers? That's weird!”
“Quite,” Johann agreed. “And the consensus scoring criterion means that it is impossible to create questions that only a minority of respondents can solve, because, by definition, responses are deemed emotionally ‘intelligent’ only if the majority of the sample has endorsed them.”
“So there's only one answer (not right or wrong but ‘agreed’ on) and also no way of telling who is better than who? That doesn't seem to make much sense?”
“I can't say I disagree. But, ultimately I'm not sure it's as important as just figuring out that EI is important and trying to get better at it. I'll wait until someone cleverer than me works out a valid test and trust my gut until then. In any case, let's hope I'm right and let's not worry too much because our work is about preparing you for success in the matrix and, in the matrix, where you are trying to get people over whom you have no direct control or authority to do things, it may be the most important tool you've got. You need to be able to influence others and you can't do that without being able to notice emotions and understand them so that you can use them when they're useful and manage them when they're not. Which is of course our definition of EI.”
“Well, it does matter because if you can't test for it how can you learn it?”
“Interesting that you say learn and not teach,” Johann mused. “Anyway, I just don't see the connection you're making as valid; I disagree that you can't learn stuff that can't be tested for – we do all the time – it's just harder to prove anything has changed. We need to be smarter at testing. For example, how will we test if this mentoring has been any use?” As he finished the question Johann realized that he was potentially on dangerous ground.
“I suppose it's about how I feel at the end,” Debra suggested.
“Absolutely. Anything else?”
“And about how others feel about me? Including you?” Debra wasn't sure.
“How they feel about you?”
“Yes. Whether they feel that they have more trust in me, that I understand them better and communicate better – that kind of thing. Because emotions are real even if they're not.”
It was Johann's turn to look confused.
“I mean that emotions are real to people even if they're not based in fact. They can be based on a misinterpretation – if I feel like someone has snubbed me, then I will behave as though they've snubbed me, whether it's true or not. They'll then react to that behaviour and so it goes on. It's about the perception and, in the same way, my progress is advanced or hindered by how I'm perceived by others.”
“Ah, I see,” Johann agreed. “Yes. EI should give you the ability to notice that you are making assumptions and having emotions and so you should be able to stop the spiral. Or to ask for help before it starts. For example, I'm obsessed with punctuality and get very angry when people are late but I'm in a culture where that isn't seen the same way. With my team, we've agreed that there will be an eight- minute grace period for arriving at the start of a meeting and if I show signs of getting impatient before that someone reminds me that I'm not in New York anymore!
“To answer your question: I'm convinced we can learn EI. Remember it's not about personality traits or characteristics. Think about it like learning to drive a car or ride a horse – everyone can do it but some people will find it easier than others or be better at learning. And what makes it easier or harder, beyond raw talent, is stuff like the kind of teacher, the amount of practise, your motivations, the environment you grew up in – there's not that many people growing up surrounded by horses who don't become good riders. There are many different things that can affect how we learn EI.”
Debra broke in, “So you're saying it's like with any other skill we all start from different places when it comes to our natural ability to carry out the various behaviours. A dancer might be very good at doing plies but not be great at the splits for example.
“And we can't change the raw talent we're born with but if this stuff is important – and we've agreed it is – then it's worthwhile spending time learning. If you can learn the mental skills that come along with EI you will be able to get better at the behaviours that underpin success in the matrix. Because they will help you build relationships and these are the foundation of how work gets done.
“And you can succeed without EI but, without those skills, people get frustrated and stressed and morale and performance suffer because people spend time playing games and not speaking up.”
“Exactly. And it can be dangerous too. Imagine if some of those bankers had spoken up before the financial crisis? When they saw the way things were going? How much grief might we have been spared!” Johann realized that he was in danger of setting off on a particular hobby-horse. “Oops I'm off again. That's enough about EI for now. Tell me, how did it go with the bosses and Yulia?”
“Actually, it was a mixed bag,” Debra admitted. “The conversation with Yulia was great. As it turned out she had no idea how much her behaviour was affecting me and she's identified some actions that she's going to take that will make life easier. But one of my bosses reacted very badly – he practically accused me of trying to ‘divide and conquer’ by driving a wedge between him and the other guy.”
“Ouch,” Johann interjected. “So what did you do?”
“Well, it wasn't too bad as, if you remember, we'd identified this as one possible way the conversation might go – that my boss might be suspicious. I was able to notice it and react to it by apologizing for the misunderstanding. I attempted to make clear that, in fact, I was trying to get their help in managing the conflicting demands on my time.”
They continued to debrief the conversations Debra had had during the week and finished up some time later. It wasn't until she was back at her desk, with this week's “homework” that Debra realized she hadn't got to the bottom of how you would go about learning to improve your emotional intelligence.
Key Takeaways