Zone of Genius

I generally think of myself as smart. But I’m careful not to count on it.

I was shopping with my oldest daughter recently and we were browsing a camping supply store. While she was looking at stuff she wanted, I found a merino wool shirt I wanted. The hanger was threaded through with some sort of “security wire” that kept it from being removed from the rack.

I scowled. What a dumb thing, I thought. Are we really so worried about theft that I have to be inconvenienced in this way? That I, in turn, have to inconvenience an employee to come over here and what, unlock a shirt for me? Ugh. So I looked around, made eye contact with an employee across the store, and called him over.

He was cheerful enough, and his smile didn’t falter when I explained what I wanted. He then took the shirt off the hanger and handed it to me.

The hanger was threaded with security wire. The shirt was just… hanging on the hanger.

We both laughed about it (the guy had a good sense of humor), but it was also a really good reminder about how “smart” works. You’re smart when you’re in your “zone of genius.” That means both A.) talking about your area of expertise, and B.) having your ‘thinking cap’ on, i.e. not stressed, not distracted, not hungry, not tired, and consciously deciding to bring your higher intelligence to bear rather than going through whatever you’re doing on auto-pilot because it isn’t that important.

When you’re not in your Zone of Genius, you’re not a genius, no matter how smart you might be while you’re in it. So be careful counting too much on your own intelligence, and give other people grace when they make mistakes. They’re probably just well outside their particular zone, but they’ll be back at some point. So will you.