From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

In an earlier post, you mention capability as one of four requisite traits for success. When you say capability, do you mean intelligence?

Response:

If you go back and re-read the post, you will see that I was referring to capability as measured by Time Span. This is most certainly not intelligence.

So, what is intelligence?

Intelligence, whatever that may be, has historically been measured using an I.Q. test. There are three problems with I.Q. tests as a measure of capability.

1. There is no statistically significant correlation between scores on an I.Q. test and success. One does not follow the other. If correlations did exist, all members of the Mensa society would predictably be our most successful leaders, which they are not.

2. I.Q. tests have mostly been administered to populations of children ranging into their teenage years. When was the last time you took an I.Q. test. I bet it was when you were in elementary or junior high school.

3. I.Q. tests are inherently designed to be completed in the present. Each problem has an answer which is to be calculated in the present. I.Q. tests are not designed to account for goal directed behavior with a future time frame.

Which brings us back to capability. When I use capability, I refer to the research conducted by Elliott Jaques related to Time Span. Capability has to do with the competence of an individual to complete goal directed behavior within a prescribed Time Span.

How long should it take to complete a three month project? A person either has the capability to do it or not? -TF