Reflective Intelligence

Now that summer is officially over (boo! hisss!) it’s time for one of my all-time favourite activities: using what I’ve learned about myself to make life better - for myself, my family, and my clients. (I swear I’m fun at parties.)

An interesting development in the field of intelligence is the concept of reflective intelligence, sometimes referred to as “mindware” by its champion David Perkins. Reflective intelligence is our ability to self-manage, self-monitor, and self-modify, and is different from neural intelligence (which determines the speed and efficiency of our brains) and experiential intelligence (which is context-specific, accumulated knowledge).

Here’s an example: over the summer, Itook Wednesdays off to spend with my family and generally laze about in the sun. My previous schedule (Mondays and Tuesdays for meetings, Wednesdays and Thursdays for focused planning work, and Fridays for overflow work, writing, and internal projects) had to shift to accommodate the change, and Tuesday became a focus day with meetings shifting to Fridays instead.

Without fail, my weekly reflection included at least one (raving) comment about how easy it was to focus on my planning days. The lesson: a “free” day to work on internal projects in the middle of the week instead of the end is the right pace for me to maintain my focus and creativity (and sanity, if we’re being honest).