Integral Development Reveals the Common Traits of Geniuses
Announcement posted by Integral Development 08 May 2014
Developer of elite leadership development program in Perth discusses why it may be possible to develop genius through habit.
Perth, WA, 8 May 2014 - A recent book about the daily habits of geniuses, called “Daily Rituals: How Artists Work,” written by Mason Currey, provided great insight into some traits and patterns that are common to many who are determined to have attained “genius” status. The book contained anecdotal information about writers, painters, composes, scientists, philosophers and those in other creative fields.
Geniuses from disparate creative fields were found to have a lot in common with each other in the form of habits that are often recommended in today’s workplace to improve performance.
Minimal Workplace Distractions
Though artists and writers didn’t have the typical modern workplace, they all had work areas in their homes or studios. Most of them had a pattern of keeping distractions away during their working hours. William Faulkner may have been the most extreme, choosing to remove the doorknob from his study while he wrote.
Daily Walks
The benefits of physical exercise are well known during the current age, but most high achievers in the arts believed in taking daily walks long before the concept of physical fitness became popular. Charles Dickens may have been the most obsessive, walking for three hours every day. Tchaikovsky was close behind with a daily two-hour walk.
Accountability and Production Goals
Lending credence to Thomas Edison’s assertion that “genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration,” most ultra-high achievers in the arts worked at a regular time each day and held themselves responsible for either time or production goals.
Separating Work from Busywork
During an era when communication was not instantaneous as it is today, most artists corresponded regularly with friends, relatives and other artists by writing letters. They were all adroit at allocating separate times for work and correspondence. Most would do all of their work first and then correspond, while a few would use correspondence as a “break” of sorts when they were fatigued from working.
Stopping Before Running Out of Ideas
A surprising number of writers would not write until they ran out of ideas, but purposely stop while they still felt like writing. Arthur Miller saw it as not “draining the reservoir.”
Relative Isolation
Most of those who we now know as “geniuses” were too busy and committed to their work to spend a lot of time socialising. Some, such as Marcel Proust, went to great extremes to isolate themselves from social obligations.
How These Habits Fit in Today’s Corporate World
According to Dr Ron Cacioppe, Managing Director at Integral Development, many of those who were seen as “geniuses” displayed many habits that are taught today to help improve performance: “Some of these common traits fit in well with contemporary business performance and human potential teachings. We see effective time management and superior motivation as the two main commonalities of high achievers.”
Dr Cacioppe continued, “The commonalities certainly open discussion of whether genius is born or developed. In our Integral Leadership Program, we develop and encourage many of the same behaviours that these geniuses had in common. The program combines Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory with contemporary business and leadership concepts.”
Dr Cacioppe concluded, “We don’t know if we can develop genius, but we certainly develop a lot of effective leaders.”
Integral Development offers leadership development programs on their Perth campus. Their Integral Leadership Program is known as an elite product that has helped many organisations increase performance and improve corporate culture. For more information, call 1300 176 789 or visit their website: http://www.integral.org.au/.
Geniuses from disparate creative fields were found to have a lot in common with each other in the form of habits that are often recommended in today’s workplace to improve performance.
Minimal Workplace Distractions
Though artists and writers didn’t have the typical modern workplace, they all had work areas in their homes or studios. Most of them had a pattern of keeping distractions away during their working hours. William Faulkner may have been the most extreme, choosing to remove the doorknob from his study while he wrote.
Daily Walks
The benefits of physical exercise are well known during the current age, but most high achievers in the arts believed in taking daily walks long before the concept of physical fitness became popular. Charles Dickens may have been the most obsessive, walking for three hours every day. Tchaikovsky was close behind with a daily two-hour walk.
Accountability and Production Goals
Lending credence to Thomas Edison’s assertion that “genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration,” most ultra-high achievers in the arts worked at a regular time each day and held themselves responsible for either time or production goals.
Separating Work from Busywork
During an era when communication was not instantaneous as it is today, most artists corresponded regularly with friends, relatives and other artists by writing letters. They were all adroit at allocating separate times for work and correspondence. Most would do all of their work first and then correspond, while a few would use correspondence as a “break” of sorts when they were fatigued from working.
Stopping Before Running Out of Ideas
A surprising number of writers would not write until they ran out of ideas, but purposely stop while they still felt like writing. Arthur Miller saw it as not “draining the reservoir.”
Relative Isolation
Most of those who we now know as “geniuses” were too busy and committed to their work to spend a lot of time socialising. Some, such as Marcel Proust, went to great extremes to isolate themselves from social obligations.
How These Habits Fit in Today’s Corporate World
According to Dr Ron Cacioppe, Managing Director at Integral Development, many of those who were seen as “geniuses” displayed many habits that are taught today to help improve performance: “Some of these common traits fit in well with contemporary business performance and human potential teachings. We see effective time management and superior motivation as the two main commonalities of high achievers.”
Dr Cacioppe continued, “The commonalities certainly open discussion of whether genius is born or developed. In our Integral Leadership Program, we develop and encourage many of the same behaviours that these geniuses had in common. The program combines Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory with contemporary business and leadership concepts.”
Dr Cacioppe concluded, “We don’t know if we can develop genius, but we certainly develop a lot of effective leaders.”
Integral Development offers leadership development programs on their Perth campus. Their Integral Leadership Program is known as an elite product that has helped many organisations increase performance and improve corporate culture. For more information, call 1300 176 789 or visit their website: http://www.integral.org.au/.