The Consultant's Code - How to Build Intelligence - Part 2 (Methodologies)

How to Build Intelligence - Part 2

Overview

The following explains various methodologies to develop intelligence. This list includes 5 of the 12 methodologies from The Consultants Code: Four Pillars To Success In Your Career And Life. The following blog will include the remaining 7 methodologies. 

Methodologies

There are various methodologies available to learn new information. Methodologies are similar to tools in a toolbox. We use a hammer to drive in a nail, and we use a screwdriver to remove a screw. Using the wrong tool will, in most cases, result in damage to the structure and tools, and will waste time, too.

Consultants have various methods of learning new information, and not all of the approaches will be used all the time; however, knowing when to use each method will serve you and increase your ability to learn.

Many years back, I was studying for an accounting exam in advanced financial accounting. One of the major sections of this course was learning to do a statement of cash flows and to determine the proper accounting entries for intercompany accounting. If you think that sounds boring, think how fun it was trying to learn this material on a Saturday afternoon when there were hundreds of other things I would rather have been doing.

Learning those steps challenged me, to say the least. I really struggled to grasp the mechanical approach to performing the steps. I would do a sample question numerous times and fix what I did wrong, and then redo it. Once I got it right, I would try another sample question and realize I was repeating all of the mistakes from the previous sample question. I wasn’t learning the steps, and I didn’t know how to learn them other than to put more time into practicing.

Fortunately, I told another accountant of my challenge with learning the material. She showed me how to use a mind map. I had never encountered a mind map before, but after she taught me about how they work and shared a book on the subject, I was able to apply those lessons to my accounting course. After building a mind map on the intercompany accounting steps, I immediately eliminated almost all of the errors that I had been repeating. Shortly after implementing this tool, I was able to successfully do sample questions with no errors at all. I had learned the material through the use of this methodology.

Using the correct methodology to learn is like using the right tool when doing a job. You learn it quicker and more effectively, and avoid damaging your morale.

Twelve Ways to Develop Your Intelligence

1. Be Curious George

“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”

 —Ellen Parr

Be curious. Curiosity is something we have at birth. It is the quality that helps a child explore, learn, and grow. But at some point, it becomes uncool to ask lots of questions or look at things in amazement. Become childlike again, and question how things work. One way to build curiosity is to learn something outside your comfort zone. Pick up an agriculture magazine and read about new technology in farming. Watch a show on forensic science and learn how the most basic of concepts are used to solve complicated problems. Read a book on military strategy and learn how some of the brightest minds planned and carried out complex military operations. There are literally thousands of different topics from different industries you can research. Be curious and ask questions, and you’ll find that you open yourself up to a world of intelligence.

2. Develop a mindset of intelligence

The area where the most improvement can be made with intelligence is in one’s mindset. If you have a fixed mindset, eventually you will find you have limited your intelligence. That type of thinking is no different than the person who believes they were born stupid. They believe they were limited at birth.

There are those who have strong attitudes toward learning and also have children. A friend of mine is the best software developer I have ever had the pleasure of working with. His wife, who is a PhD in molecular biology, is no slouch, either. They have three children. Those children have been gifted with great genes, but they still need to do something with those genes. The children may have a slight advantage, but their long-term intelligence is no sure thing. It takes a lifetime of effort to continue to develop intelligence, and like everyone else, they will be required to do the same.

3. Stop saying “I can’t”

“Clear your mind of can’t.”

—Solon

The mindset required is one that says you can learn anything. The first thing is to stop saying “I can’t.” This goes for all of the sections of this book, so I will keep repeating it: stop saying “I can’t learn that,” or “I just can’t figure this out,” or “My mind doesn’t work that way.” That is total nonsense. If you truly have a learning disability, find an expert to teach you tools and techniques for overcoming those challenges. Business magnate Sir Richard Branson has dyslexia. Comedian Howie Mandel has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Physical limitations such as blindness did not hold back Stevie Wonder, who is one of the best musicians in history. Singer Adam Levine has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There are countless other examples of people who worked through what is considered a limitation to achieve extraordinary success.

Stop saying “I can’t.” No one cares. Even your mom is getting tired of hearing you say it. If you won’t stop saying “I can’t,” find someone else who keeps saying “I should,” and the two of you can “can’t” and “should” all over each other.

My sister had a friend named Eric. Eric was born with rheumatoid arthritis, which causes bone erosion and joint deformity. It would also cause fatigue and stiffness. One example of its effect on his life is that when Eric walked, he had to twist from side to side, as his hip joints would not allow his legs to move up and down. My sister says she has never heard Eric use the words “I can’t.” She said he went dancing, skiing, skating. He did anything he wanted to do and tried it all. Eric passed away in his late thirties. Although he passed away at a young age, he may have lived five lives compared to the average person because he never used the words “I can’t.”

The best way to stop saying “I can’t” is to learn something you’ve told yourself you can’t learn. Make a meal you’ve always said is too difficult, deliver a speech to a club, learn to ballroom dance. Take one of the things that you have limited yourself on, and then go and do it. What you’ll find is that it’s not that difficult. I had never roasted a turkey before Thanksgiving 2016. I always thought it would be difficult, and then I decided I would try it. Once I finally did roast that turkey—along with preparing the gravy, mashed potatoes, and vegetables—I found out it wasn’t as hard as it had appeared. I repeated it for Christmas 2016, and will continue to do so.

Once you do something you thought you couldn’t do, you add a little bit of confidence when it comes to taking on the next task. This builds creativity and confidence for consultants.

4. Become the professor

One proven method for gathering knowledge is learning material and then acting as if you are going to train someone else on it. You’ll have a different appreciation for the material and will begin to ask thought-provoking questions like, What happens when? How does this work? When was this information discovered?

5. Ground lessons in familiarity

I do a lot of training, and I have learned that people can learn almost anything when you ground new information in concepts that the students already know. Using similes and metaphors help people understand how something works by linking it to information they understand.

One of the best examples of this comes from my eighth grade industrial arts teacher. He was to show us how a carburetor works by combining the air and gas. He had all of us students form two lines outside of the classroom doors. He had some of us line up to represent the air, and the others represented the fuel. In his example, the air-to-fuel ratio had to be the same, so one person from the air line moved through the doors, like they were entering the carburetor, and as they moved through, a person from the fuel line followed. This continued. Then, he acted like the pistons were pushing us through faster and faster until we weren’t able to coordinate ourselves to get through the door fast enough.

I know a carburetor is more complicated than that, but after more than thirty years, that simple example has stuck with me. This is the effect of tying new concepts to examples students already understand.

For consultants, grounding ideas in familiarity helps with the unique language and terminologies that clients use. Converting the concepts into what is familiar for you will help bridge the gap in language.


About The Consultant's Code Blog

The Consultant's Code Blog is a blog that contains excerpts from the #1 International Best Selling book The Consultants Code: Four Pillars To Success In Your Career And Life.  The Consultant's Code focuses on skills that will help separate you from all of the other consultants by showing you how to properly develop and use the four pillars of success. The four pillars are intelligence, effort, likability and intent. Each pillar is discussed in detail and shows how common misconceptions that have been taught or believed has been holding consultants back. These misconceptions and inaccurate beliefs not only affect the consultants they negatively affect clients.

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