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My understanding is that the biggest predictors of success is a combination of IQ and big 5 personality traits. You need high conscientiousness, low agreeablen
by Consultant32452 3y ago
My understanding is that the biggest predictors of success is a combination of IQ and big 5 personality traits. You need high conscientiousness, low agreeableness, low neuroticism (high risk tolerance), and some openness.
In my experience people who tend to do excellent at school also tend to be high in agreeableness. Agreeableness means you will go along with the path laid out in front of you, which explains all your high IQ engineer friends who took those convenient jobs straight out of college and stayed at that relative level of success. Low risk tolerance is another factor that makes a great engineer but doesn't lead to entrepreneur.
My GUESS is that your "frat guy" folks had a high enough IQ that they could have gotten better grades, but understood that was not the path to the outsized success they wanted.
- Ancapistani 3y agoMy apologies for the delay in responding to this - I go through periods where I simply don't have time for HN :) > My GUESS is that your "frat guy" folks had a high enough IQ that they could have gotten better grades, but understood that was not the path to the outsized success they wanted. That's exactly my point! To be clear, I didn't mean "frat guy" in a derogatory way at all. I meant it as a shorthand for "people in my social circle who immersed themselves in Greek life." I was on a full scholarship and lived in the honors dorms, so the people in my social circle were uniformly very intelligent and capable people. If you want to optimize for "greatness" - whether that means financial success to you or building something of great value - then being willing to take risks is important. Being able to convince the people around you that the risks are worthwhile and that they should join you is essential.