READY, FIRE, AIM: The Experts Say, ‘It’s Not IQ’

I’ve complained before about experts.

I’m not an expert about most things, although I do a pretty amazing job, cleaning windows. When the mood strikes.

My trick is a combination of vinegar and old newspapers. People are typically astonished when they see my windows, because they can’t see them. That’s the whole point of a clean window. You can’t see it.

Other people are expert at one or two things. My uncle is an expert at re-upholstering the seats in classic cars. But don’t ask him to clean your windows.

Allegedly, Ana Homayoun is an expert at helping kids succeed in school. She wrote about her expertise in a recent CNBC article with the headline, If your kid has this No. 1 skill, they’re already ahead of the game, says expert: It’s ‘not IQ’

As suggested by the headline, it’s not IQ.

Says an expert.

Ms. Homayoun has written previously on the general topic of ‘succeeding’.  She’s the author of the book, Erasing the Finish Line: The New Blueprint for Success Beyond Grades and College Admissions. It’s one thing to help kids get into good colleges — which Ms. Homayoun is reportedly able to do. It’s another thing entirely for the kid to succeed once they get out of college.

Ask me how I know.

Any kid who has been accepted into a prestigious college, and actually graduated from that same college, probably thinks they know more than you do, even if you’re a certified expert. It’s just the nature of a college education, that you come out thinking you know everything. That you’re an expert, in other words.

Ms. Homayoun is a graduate of Duke University, and also holds a Masters in Counseling.

Is Duke University a prestigious college? I have no idea. I graduated from Nevada State University, which I guarantee is not prestigious. But you should see my windows! Except you can’t see them.

Anyway, my interest in Ms. Homayoun’s CNBC article was sparked by the phrase “It’s not IQ”. I imagine a lot of people like me would find it encouraging to know that “It’s not IQ.”

The real predictor? Executive functioning skills, a set of cognitive skills that help us concentrate, organize, and manage emotions. When you learn these skills early on, you’ll be better at handling responsibilities and forming meaningful connections.

As mentioned, I’m not an expert at most things, and certainly not around “meaningful connections”. I have formed a meaningful connection with my cat, Roscoe, but that’s mostly around feeding him when he asks for food.

At first, the idea of “executive functioning skills” was honestly frightening to consider. During my long career as a journalist, I’ve worked under a number of executives, and in my experience, most of them exhibited “executive dysfunctional skills.” Yelling and screaming, for example.

But knowing that “executive functioning skills” are important to getting someone into a prestigious college, and then helping them succeed beyond college — something I’ve been trying to do for many years now — we probably ought to know what those skills might be. That’s something Ms. Homayoun doesn’t fully explain in her CNBC article, unfortunately.

But you can find out about it on Wikipedia. And in Psychology Today magazine. And from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. And even from the federal government.

It turns out that “executive functions” have nothing whatsoever to do with corporate executives or government executive or any other type of executive. They’re “cognitive functions” that can help an ordinary person get along in the world, and eventually succeed.

There are 7 executive functions, according to an expert named Frank J. Ninivaggi M.D., writing for Psychology Today magazine:

1. Self-awareness
2. Inhibition
3. Nonverbal Working Memory
4. Verbal Working Memory
5. Emotional Regulation
6. Motivational Regulation
7. Planning and Problem-Solving

We note that none of these are executive functions involve “IQ”.

As we all know, you can have a really high IQ and still have zero self-awareness or emotional regulation.

But if you have all of these functions, and you also have a high IQ, then you might determine that there are actually 12 executive functions, as explained by an expert named Peg Dawson, Ed.D., NCSP:

1. Metacognition
2. Goal Directed Persistence
3. Planning
4. Prioritization
5. Task Initiation
6. Mental Flexibility
7. Sustained Attention
8. Time Management
9. Working Memory
10. Organization
11. Response Inhibition
12. Emotional Control

As we all know, there are experts, and then there are experts.

And then, beyond that, there are experts.

An expert named Dave Cornell. Ph.D. — who has worked in education for more than 20 years — has determined that there are actually 15 executive functions:

1. Planning
2. Attentional control
3. Working memory
4. Self-regulation
5. Organizational skills
6. Emotional regulation
7. Prioritization
8. Cognitive flexibility
9. Reflection in the Moment
10. Time management
11. Metacognition
12. Multitasking/Task switching
13. Response inhibition
14. Attention to detail
15. Project management
16. Effortful processing

At this point, things begin to get so complicated, and the experts have us so confused… that we naturally decide to fall back on our primary executive function:

1. IQ

It’s helped me get this far…

I’m sure it can get me a bit farther.