How Can I Identify the Smartest Person in the Room?

Nik Business, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Learning, Mindfulness, Productivity, Psychology, Quora, Relationships

People always ask about the smartest person in the room, but what we never talk about is: What room for Pete’s sake?

How you find out who’s the smartest highly depends on the kind of room you’re in.

If it’s this kind of room…

…well, you’ll know pretty soon. Same goes for this room:

Now, this room is a whole different story:

As is this one:

This room is where it really gets tricky:

In some rooms, it doesn’t even matter who’s the smartest. Like here:

Or here:

Or here:

I think the most important thing for you to do, whenever you enter a room, is to be smart about how you analyze it.

Don’t jump to conclusions too fast. Don’t read signs that aren’t there. Empathy takes time to unfold.

I just try to pay attention to who’s paying attention. Can I notice when other people notice things? Who else is curious? Who’s asking questions? Who’s listening?

There are so many ways to be smart unrelated to intelligence, and I think considering the context of your environment and how it affects people sure is one of them.

It might not make you the smartest person in the room, but it’ll sure make you smarter and that’s always the right next step to take.

Nik

Niklas Göke writes for dreamers, doers, and unbroken optimists. A self-taught writer with more than a decade of experience, Nik has published over 2,000 articles. His work has attracted tens of millions of readers and been featured in places like Business Insider, CNBC, Lifehacker, and many others. Nik has self-published 2 books thus far, most recently 2-Minute Pep Talks. Outside of his day job and daily blog, Nik loves reading, video games, and pizza, which he eats plenty a slice of in Munich, Germany, where he resides.