When coaching inventors and entrepreneurs, I find many confuse Smart and Skilled. They are eager to take over the world with a quiver of confidence backed by rosy myths, book knowledge, and guesses. But they have no skills. And thinking you know more than you do is a big problem.
Smarts does not equal skill. Confusing the two is dangerous. Like Mike Tyson says, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." Here's how to dodge the punch.
Smart people can figure things out.
Skilled people know.
How do you gain skill? Through experience. Do you care if your parachuting coach has 150 IQ or that he's safely done 1000 jumps? Smart is not a substitute for skill.
Why does it matter? It matters because smart people get in trouble thinking they don't need skill. Confuse smarts for skill blinds you to storms, hidden problems and the tripwires that lie ahead.
One programmer I know reads every book on a subject and then thinks he knows everything about it. But when you ask him to explain how his ideas work in specific cases, he can't. He brushes the questions off saying he'll figure it out. He's smart but not skilled.
How does one get skilled? Experience. If you want to be skilled at entrepreneurship, then start something. It should be a small something. Rent a hot dog cart and sell hot dogs this weekend. Or go to the flea market with junk you scavenged from dumpsters and the dollar store. It doesn't matter if you make money, although that should be a secondary goal. Your primary goal should be building skills by experiencing entrepreneurship. Please, don't mortgage the house. No matter how smart it is your idea is probably not that good. Start slow and develop your skills. Remember, profits and loses, success and failures, winning and losing, all build skill. So do it as cheaply and quickly as possible.
How do you become smart? Much debate on that. Some people are born more gifted in the smarts-department than others, but that doesn't matter. We all know brilliant failures. And most people don't know the difference between a smart person and a skilled person. If you have the skill, you appear smart.
Maybe you're not Einstein, but master a skill, and you can look like a genius. Your ability to effortlessly create will seem like magic. And there are many skills you can master. Baking delicious artisan loaves of bread, welding, car repair, plumbing, bricklaying, computer programming, landscaping, and any other skill, once mastered, makes you look like a genius. And people pay money for genius.
"Dumb" people can set the world on fire (in a good way) by focusing on building skills. (I know, I used the word "dumb". Stop wincing. I saved you from having to read "less-than-smart" or some other BS word kludge for the rest of the article.)
If you know you're not MIT material but have a passion for cars, go learn everything you can about cars by taking them apart, building them and fixing them. Get your skills on. Learn everything you can. The world will pay you for your skills. And plenty of money is always available for skilled people. Some mechanics earn more than some college professors, and many car dealers earn more than doctors. Skills make you seem smart.
What if you are smart? Smart people should take a humble pill. Yeah, you're smart, but understand that smart is not a skill. You don't want to read a book about lion taming and then immediately jump in a cage with a lion. Build your skills, in a safe environment and be ready to fail. Failure is a part of the process. Noone likes failing, but it builds skill. People are more accepting of failure when they see themselves learning from it. You don't have to like the punch in the face, but a bloody nose heals and also reminds you to move out of the way next time. Failure is a great skill builder.
One more thing about skill building. The quality of your skill is proportional to the breadth and depth of your experiences. Some people assume they have ten years of experience when they only have one year repeated ten times. Being skilled means your knowledge is current and you are continually exploring, learning, and growing.
Why did I write this? I see too many smart people quitting when the first failure kicks them a little too hard. And I also see too many "dumb" people not trying because they believe they're not smart enough. People need to try. We're all better off when all people work to do great things. If you have an idea, do it. Doing is the best way to chase success. And remember, success makes everyone look smart.
Perry The Inventor is a patented award-winning designer, serial entrepreneur, and coach. He is the founder of Perry Teri Toys LLC and loves play. Connect with him on Linkedin as he accepts all connections and loves networking with innovative, like-minded people.