Successful Intelligence
How to Help Students Develop Analytical, Creative and
Practical Intelligence
Carol Carter
LifeBound, president
Based on the work of Robert J. Sternberg
What is Successful Intelligence?
Successful Intelligence –
The ability to acquire, develop, and
apply a full range of intellectual skills,
rather than relying on the inert
intelligence that schools value.
“If IQ rules, it is only because we let
it. And when we let it rule, we
choose a bad master. We got
ourselves into the test mess; we
can get ourselves out of it. It’s a
mess from which I personally had
to extricate myself.”
~ Robert J. Sternberg
Obstacles to the Development of
Successful Intelligence
Negative expectations on the part of authority
figures.
 When authority figures have low
expectations, it often leads to their getting
from an individual what they expect.
 It’s not the low IQ that can easily lead us
down the road to ruin, it’s the negative
expectations that are generated.

The Successfully Intelligent
Response
Successfully intelligent people defy negative
expectations, even when these expectations
arise from low scores on IQ or similar tests.
 They do not let other people’s assessments
stop them from achieving their goals.
 They find their path and then pursue it,
realizing that there will be obstacles along the
way and that surmounting these obstacles is
part of their challenge.

Successfully Intelligent
People….
are self-efficacious. They have a can-do
attitude.
 actively seek out role models. They also
observe people who fail, and note why they fail,
and then make sure they do things differently.
 Realize that the environment in which they find
themselves may or may not enable them to
make the most of their talents.
 Seek to perform in ways that not only are
competent but distinguish them from ordinary
performers.

The Three Keys to
Successful Intelligence
To be successfully intelligent is to think
well in three different ways:
 Analytically
 Creatively
 Practically
Analytical Intelligence
 Involves
conscious direction of our
mental processes to find a thoughtful
solution to a problem.
 A.K.A.
– Problem-solving and decisionmaking skills
Analytical Intelligence
 A student
may be able to score high on
tests, but are they capable of coming up
with original ideas?
 For
example, to excel in the practice of
science requires the ability to generate
creative, significant ideas that make a
difference in the field.
Creative Intelligence
 The
ability to think “outside the box”; to
come up with inspiring and creative
ideas that present new perspectives
 To generate
interesting ideas and carry
them out independently
Creative Intelligence
 Why
do we pay more attention to
predictors (test scores, IQ) than
performance?
 Creative
intelligence is what produces
products in the first place and keeps
them coming out.
Practical Intelligence
 Common
 The
sense
idea that it’s not just what you
know, but how you use what you know
in order to create opportunities for
yourself or solve a problem.
Practical Intelligence
 One
aspect is sensitivity to nonverbal
communication
 For
example, in a job interview you can
change the way the interview is going
based on the nonverbal cues you
receive from an interviewer.