The 8 Different Types of Intelligence

Hi,

I hope you are doing well. Welcome to another Here’s An Idea Worth Playing With (HAIWPW). The weekly audio show about ideas that I think are worth playing with.

I recorded this at lunch today, after recording a video about park benches (yes, you read that right). I was at Avington Park, a wonderful estate just outside of Winchester. It was cold. There were some menacing looking bulls. The swans were circling. Some bird watchers were hanging around.

And I was musing about the 8 different types of intelligence and playing with the idea that our workplaces may benefit from appreciating, amplifying and accelerating the diversity of intelligence. This list is from this source. 

The 8:

1. Spatial intelligence - Abstract and dimensional thinking
2. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence - Understanding our body
3. Musical intelligence - Sensitivity to rhythm, etc
4. Linguistic/Language intelligence - flow, correct words, melody, tone
5. Logical-mathematical intelligence - The ability to analyze problems logically (the classical idea of intelligence)
6. Interpersonal intelligence - The ability to interact effectively with others
7. Intrapersonal intelligence - Sensitivity to one’s own feelings, goals, capabilities and values
8. Naturalistic intelligence - The ability to understand nature

I mention:

• The communication workshop (we cover a couple of these 8 in this course).
• The Trinity of Career Development
• The 10 Behaviours of Effective Employees

That’s been an idea worth playing with. Have a fab week.

Rob..

What is Here's an idea worth playing with?

Here's an idea worth playing with is a podcast about cultivating better companies - the kind of companies where work gets done but not at the expense of people.

It's about leadership, communication, creativity and critical thinking - as well as a hefty dose of straight forward business advice.

It's for anyone looking to cultivate the kind of company that enriches the lives of all who work in it.

The title comes from the fact that other ways often work, so even though what Rob shares is based on his vast experience, it's still an idea that he believes is worth you playing with, modifying, extending and noodling over.

Rob Lambert is an award winning communication teacher and trainer, international keynote presenter, experienced leader and manager, HR Exec and career coach.

His lifelong passion for creativity and communication come together here with his experience of business to give you insightful, actionable and interesting ideas to play with.

Rob is also a father of three sons, a publisher, a writer, a podcaster and a film maker. He is the co-host of the wildly popular Stationery Freaks podcast. Rob is the founder of Cultivated Management - a communication consultancy company helping leaders and managers lead companies to a brighter future.

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Rob: 00:06

Hi, everybody. It's Rob here with, here's an idea worth playing with. Now I'm, at Avington Park, Avington Hall, it's sometimes called in Winchester. I'm, in nature. You might hear some swans and some ducks.

Rob: 00:19

You may even hear the birds chattering and you may even hear my teeth chattering too because it is absolutely freezing. I don't really describe myself I guess as being academically intelligent. You know, that classic rational mathematical academic kind of intelligence that we hold so dear in schools and the education system, but also in our workplaces. You know, we have these sort of arbitrary interviews and assessments that test our rational ability to solve problems. The challenge with that is that that's not the only kind of intelligence, and I can't help but wonder that actually if, we embrace the 8 different types of intelligence, we'd build a much more diverse workforce.

Rob: 01:04

And we'd be able to solve many more problems, and we'd be able to use people's natural intelligence rather than trying to shoehorn everybody into a sort of classical mathematical intelligence. There's a couple of balls over there looking at me as if to say, you should not be here. And, if they come a bit closer, I won't be here. You might hear me run-in a minute. There's some swans and there's a couple of people with binoculars staring at the I'm assuming at the wildlife.

Rob: 01:29

They might be staring at the house, who knows? Anyway, so what are these different types of intelligence? Well, the first one is called spatial intelligence. This is the ability to think abstractly and in many different dimensions. Now I see this as one of my core intelligences really, you know, I'm able to sort of almost look at a system and see how things will interact and move around.

Rob: 01:49

And if we pull on this lever here in the business, then actually we're gonna see an effect over here. It's a sort of really looking at things as a big system, this sort of spatial awareness. Sorry the bird watchers are getting a bit closer. I'm gonna move over here. And so the second one is bodily or kinesthetic intelligence.

Rob: 02:08

This is the ability to use your body in a way that demonstrates physical and athletic prowess. Now I don't know whether athletic prowess is a core intelligence we need in most workplaces. But being able to understand your body and how to use it to convey messages, to convey emotions, to contribute and add to the words that you're using. We cover this huge amount in our communications workshop. Body language, being able to use your body to amplify the message and convey the real meaning to those that you're communicating with.

Rob: 02:44

Now the third one is something called musical intelligence. Now this is the ability to be sensitive to rhythm, pitch, meter, tone, melody, and timber. Now I don't know how useful this is gonna be in a workplace, but actually being able to understand the rhythm of words, being able to understand the rhythm of the business. You know I worked with somebody who said he could just sort of feel the energy of the business and he was wonderful at solving problems and working out how to move people into action. I don't know whether this was related to that, but he was a keen musician as well and played in several bands.

Rob: 03:19

You know, I was in a band once. We were called merchandise flying ducks, and we were rubbish. I don't have a huge amount of musical intelligence, but there you go. It's one of the 8. Number 3 to be precise.

Rob: 03:34

So we move on to number 4 which is linguistic or language intelligence. This is really the ability to be sensitive to the meaning of words, to the order of words, to the sound and the rhythms, the inflections, and the meter of words. This is a fundamentally brilliant skill to have in the world of work. It's what we focus on in the comms workshop. A lot of my writing and videos is about this as well.

Rob: 03:57

This linguistic ability is key to being clear and concise and to galvanize people around an idea and to sort of move people into action. You know, you've worked with these people that just they choose the right words in the right way and they've got this sort of rhythm and pattern to the way that they speak, which is just wonderful to, be part of. So number 5 is a logical or mathematical intelligence. This is that sort of classic mathematical academic, you know, the one that we usually test for when we do these arbitrary sort of HR tests to join a company. Can you rationally solve this problem?

Rob: 04:35

This is a great obviously intelligence to have, and it is really helpful in the world of work when we're dealing with numbers and we're dealing with all sorts of, you know, data points and evidence. It's a great intelligence to have, but it isn't the only one that makes sense in business. So we move on to number 6 which is interpersonal intelligence. This is the ability to interact effectively with other people. Into personal communication is between 2 people.

Rob: 05:01

We cover this a lot in the comms workshop because this is the essence of building relationships. It's about getting to know the other person. It's about understanding them and listening to them. And I always say that listening is one of the greatest compliments you can give somebody. You know how to listen and give and take and communicate effectively is a wonderful intelligence.

Rob: 05:20

And that's interpersonal intelligence and that's number 6 on the list. So number 7 is intrapersonal intelligence. Intra is yourself. This is being able to understand your own feelings, your own anxieties, to to understand yourself and move forward. If you've been listening to Cultivating Management and watching the videos or you know reading anything that I've written, you'll see that there's a thread here, which is when we understand ourselves really truly deeply, you know, using things like disc and strengths finder and happiness.

Rob: 05:59

You know, that's the trinity of career development or understanding what our behaviors are and, you know, those 10 behaviors of effective employees. This is really about getting to know ourselves. It's intrapersonal intelligence. Because when we understand ourselves, we have this sort of capacity to plan and act in light and sort of in line with our own wishes, our own values, our own core competencies. Brilliant brilliant intelligence to have.

Rob: 06:25

1 that we often overlook in the world of work is helping people to truly understand themselves. So finally, number 8 on the list is naturalistic intelligence. Now, I'm in nature at the moment. I am freezing. I have no idea where the bird watches have gone, but, oh, there they are.

Rob: 06:42

I think they're looking at me now. Anyway, I'm in nature. I'm surrounded by a lake and some beautiful beautiful trees. And grass, and weeds, and all sorts of animals. We've got cows, bulls as I mentioned.

Rob: 07:02

We've got some pigs over there somewhere. There's a couple of swans and some fowl and all sorts of stuff swimming around in the lake. Now naturalistic intelligence is a wonderful wonderful intelligence. It's really about, you know, understanding, I guess, those nuances in nature. You know, the distinction between plants, the distinction between different sort of, animals, you know, understanding all those different types of birds that we can see and hear.

Rob: 07:27

And it's a wonderful intelligence to translate to work because when we think about work, we often describe our companies as organizations. And there's a clue there. It's organic. It's an organism. It's evolving and changing and responding to the inputs and the outputs and the pressures and the needs and the demands and the people that operate within it.

Rob: 07:48

And being able to actually look at the natural world around us and weave in some of the lessons that happen into our organization is a brilliant brilliant skill indeed. You know, understanding the different ecosystems and the way that the planet works. You know, wonderful intelligence bring into our workplaces. So there you go. They're the 8 different intelligences.

Rob: 08:10

And you know, I can't help but think that if we really understood these a lot more as, you know, managers, leaders, employees, then we'd be able to really bring our core intelligences to life to embrace them, to recognize them, to amplify them, to build diverse teams full of people who have a varied and different set of intelligences instead of focusing, which we often do on just that mathematical rational academic intelligence. People are rich and varied, and I can't help but think that we're missing out on some of that human potential and that human capital and helping people to thrive in our organizations. So there you go. There's the 8. Hope you've enjoyed it.

Rob: 08:53

This has been an idea worth playing with. I'm gonna go and, sit on a bench, I think, for a bit longer. Actually, I'm not gonna sit in the car because it's it's really cold. It's really cold. I can't even feel my hand.

Rob: 09:04

I'm not sure I'm gonna even be able to stop this audio recording. I hope you have a fabulous weekend. I'm starting to get a little bit scared of those balls actually. They're creeping this way. Yeah.

Rob: 09:14

Have a good one.