True Success

Ashley Martin

Portfolio 121

            To live a successful life we need to broaden our horizons to look at things in a different prospective. Through reading Robert J. Sternberg’s book Successful Intelligence and from class discussions I have learned to think with an open mind. To be successfully intelligent in life I need to think in three different ways: analytically, creatively, and practically.

            Stenberg tells us, “that successful intelligence is most effective when it balances all three aspects”(p.128). I have learned that balance is basic both in development of the necessary skills and knowing when to use them. Successful intelligent people may balance the way things are important to them in life. From watching a slide show in class about balance it was brought to my attention that some people maybe preoccupied with finding ways to make more money, gaining intelligence, and finding ways to feed their families.

            More importantly Sternberg mentions that successful intelligent people are flexible in adapting to the roles they need to fulfill (p.153). This informs me that in order to be a successful intelligent person I have to recognize that I will have to change the way I work to fit the task or situation at hand. Then I would also have to analyze what those changes will have to be and make them.

            The first component we dealt with was analytical intelligence, which involves conscious direction of our mental process to find a thoughtful solution to a problem. R.J. Sternberg states, “ analytical intelligence is both problem solving and decision making, concentrating not on its use in test problems, but in everyday life”(p.155). According to the author problem solving requires six basic steps, problem recognition, problem definition, formulating a strategy for problem solving, representing information, allocating resources, monitoring and evaluation. Successful intelligent people don’t rush into a situation causing them to rethink their strategies. A company’s motto that Sternberg once consulted for was, “there’s never time to do it right, but there’s always time to do it over”(p.163). This tells me that the first time trying to achieve a goal may sometimes take a longer process.

            Creativity is the next aspect of intelligence we dealt with. Sternberg tells us, “creative intelligence goes beyond the given to generate interesting ideas”(p.191).Creativity is defined as an attitude toward life. It is a process of three essential aspects of intelligence. In class we were given different history facts of creativity. The contributions and deeds of a number of creative minds such as, Copernicus, Galileo, Da Vinci, Edison and many more shaped the history. These slide shows showed us the beauty and utilitarian value of Roman architecture. Sternberg tells us, “we should be encouraged to develop our creativity in areas where we have a contribution to make”(p.219). I truly believe that people do their most creative work when they love what they do.

            In order to make it in the real world Sternberg wants us to also use our practical intelligence. He says,

 “ successful practical intelligence enables a person to come up with a strategy for solving real life problems” (p.222). Sternberg also states, “ practical intelligent people learn how the system works and make it work for them” (p.245). In using practical intelligence I have learned that an individual also needs to acquire tacit knowledge. This is knowledge typically acquired with out direct help form others. This allows individuals to achieve goals they personally value.

            In conclusion, if an individual acquires the three aspects and knows how to balance them I believe along with the author that they definitely will become a successful intelligent person. They will always have to take into consideration that successful intelligent people do not always make the correct decisions, but they monitor and evaluate their decisions. They also correct their errors as they discover tem. So in essence if a person acquires these qualities with the correct mindset they will be assured to be very successful in life.