Intelligence isn't everything

Phil Rosen

Good morning, readers.

As you can guess from the logo, the newsletter has a new name: Tip Jar. Welcome to the inaugural edition.

Here’s what to expect:

A concise, fresh, and easy-to-read newsletter that sets a positive and encouraging tone for your week, delivered every Monday.

Tip Jar is for smart, creative, and curious readers — and it’s aimed at making you even more perceptive, informed and productive.

Articles on personal development and creativity, actionable ideas and insightful notes, informative reading recommendations, Q&As, and tidbits you won’t find anywhere else.

Writing for Fortune Magazine, BuzzFeed, Business Insider and other outlets has given me an understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Rest assured, Tip Jar will include only the very best, most valuable content.

But no gatekeeping — if you like the sound of this, share it with a friend. 🙂

I hope you’ve got your coffee ready (let me guess: almond milk latte?). Here we go.

Being Smart Isn’t Everything

We need smart people because they can solve complex problems. Luckily for everyone, there are plenty of intelligent people.

Visionaries, on the other hand, are much less common. Think of Einstein, Nikola Tesla, or Steve Jobs — icons who broke molds and inspired generations.

But the interesting thing about visionaries is that they aren’t defined by their intelligence.

The most successful individuals are almost always the ones who can leverage their smarts in a creative way. Being smart isn’t their defining quality.

But really, neither is creativity.

At its root, innovation comes from curiosity. That’s something we can all improve upon. Curiosity is a quality every kid has, and something that every visionary never lost as they reached adulthood.

Even the great (albeit fictional) detective Sherlock Holmes, while brilliant, relied heavily on an insatiable desire to learn and observe.

Curiosity — not raw intellect — is the underpinning to innovation.

Because of this, the big ideas of tomorrow aren’t reserved for geniuses. The future is created by those who are most curious.

Once you can’t stop asking questions, you have a better shot of arriving at some answers.

Geniuses aren’t guaranteed to innovate any more than you, me, or a passerby on the street because, often, changing the world simply comes down to asking the right question.

With this mindset, something special happens.

“What will you wonder about today?” becomes the same question as “How will you change the world today?”

I’m rooting for you.

— Phil

Tip Jar Recs

Something quirky: The weird, surprising ways that Victorians flirted in the 19th century. (BBC)
Something different: The anatomy of a murder confession. How one Texas Ranger cajoled killers into confessing to their crimes. (The Marshall Project)
Something encouraging: A simple new tech that could save sharks and turtles from getting snagged in fishing nets. (Science)
Fiction: An old man looks back on the life he lived and the memories he can no longer recognize. (The New Yorker)