11/07/2026
Are you "not smart," or has someone just been measuring the wrong thing?
In 1983, psychologist Howard Gardner looked at how we define intelligence and said, essentially: we've been grading fish on their ability to climb trees.
His Theory of Multiple Intelligences argued that IQ tests capture maybe two flavors of smart — linguistic and logical-mathematical — while ignoring at least six others: visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic.
Meaning: the kid who can't sit still might be your future surgeon. The one doodling in the margins might be your next architect. The "too chatty" one negotiating peace between squabbling classmates? That's leadership, showing up early.
Here's the shift Gardner asked us to make, and it applies far beyond the classroom:
Stop asking "How intelligent is this person?"
Start asking "How is this person intelligent?"
Because the guy who can't remember a single PowerPoint slide might replay a client's entire backstory word for word. The colleague who "doesn't do numbers" might read a room better than anyone in the building. Intelligence isn't a single number. It's a fingerprint.
And here's the data that should humble all of us: most of what gets rewarded in school — and often at work — tests for maybe 20% of human capability. The other 80% just doesn't show up on the transcript.
So next time you catch yourself thinking someone is "just not that sharp," try this instead: they might be sharp in a language you haven't learned to read yet.
This is the exact conversation Ms. Tapasi De, the wonderful resource person for the day, led our faculty through in a recent workshop — sharp, funny, and just uncomfortable enough to make everyone rethink how they see their students (and honestly, themselves). The kind of session that doesn't end when the session ends.
So, genuinely: which of the eight intelligences shows up most in you? And which one is your workplace, your classroom, or your family completely failing to notice?
Sit with that one for a minute.