The World Within You
By Chance Massaro & Steve Wallis
If you have a highly developed intrapersonal intelligence you will probably have clarity about what you believe – and you might also have strong values. You might also have vivid remembrance of your dreams, and/or constant awareness of your emotional state. You probably also find it easy to talk about your emotions. You will enjoy your time alone and have a strong sense of intuition that you trust frequently.
When you employ your intrapersonal intelligence in learning, you dive into a complex world: one you can't really predict. You can use it, however, by paying attention to the nonlinear and unexpected things that arise in your mind. If you're learning a software program, and it makes you think of fish in an aquarium, attend to that, and let the fish continually lead you back to the right command.
A Story from the Heart
Lafayette is a scientist who has spent twenty years studying how the heart responds to the enzymes produced by the body. Lafayette identified six reactions of the heart but found only five enzymes. For a year, he worked in his lab at Dartmouth to find the sixth enzyme.
One Sunday, Lafayette was on his way to church when he found himself staring at some children in a playground. One child was being pushed on the swing. Watching the child yell with joy as she soared higher and higher, Lafayette realized that one of the enzymes he was studying must have a "hinge." Bent in one direction, the enzyme could make the heart react one way; bent in the other direction, it might create an entirely different reaction. By the end of the week he had proven that a complex molecule could actually change its shape.
In this situation, using analytical skills and focusing on finding the presumed "sixth enzyme" was just getting in the way. Once he relaxed, Lafayette's intrapersonal intelligence could bring the information and insight to the surface and led to a breakthrough in understanding how the heart responds to the body's needs.
The Sufi Decision
Many successful business decisions are made because it just seemed like the right thing to do. The next time your team needs to solve a complex business problem, combine your intrapersonal intelligences with this exercise based on an ancient Sufi practice. First, forget the data, put aside the charts, toss the balance sheets. Each participant should sit quietly and jot down the first ideas that come to mind. When everyone is ready – each person puts her or his "cards on the table." A good card to play is to visit http://www.easygenius.net and find out more ways to find out about yourself!
