In 1912, William Stern introduced the concept of an intelligence quotient to the world for the first time. Meant to be an indicator of success, people were quick to adopt this system and base their “purpose” and possibilities in life off of a hastily developed number. Yet, time and time again, history has proven that the idea of IQ is overrated, and that work ethics are a better indicator of success because it entails an unwaning resilience and durability to hardships that IQ often lacks.

In the 21st century, people tend to associate success with academic excellence. After all, scientists and researchers spearhead society’s development with new inventions and groundbreaking works. However, what surprises many is that IQ has little to do with this success. Take for example, Dr. James Wattson, a biologist who is credited with developing the modern model of DNA. At a time with limited research and technology, scientists had trouble determining the structure of microscopic molecules, as molecules that small were hard to work with. However, Watson worked day and night to tweak his microscopes, and look into the inner workings of our body’s language. He failed again and again, but continued to persevere. And finally, after years of working on his research, he managed to propose the correct structure of DNA. Through his persistence and effort to learn from his failures, he tweaked his experiment over and over again until he accomplished his goal. Now, people may argue that his IQ had to do with this. They say that without a relatively high IQ, he would not have been able to learn from his mistakes. However, in reality, Watson had an IQ that was well within the average range. What separated him was his amazing work ethics, which allowed him to get up time and time again after failure in a position in which many would have given up.

Similarly, people have also attributed success to financial wellbeing. After all, these people have had whole educational institutions named after them (Harvard, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, etc.). However, what many fail to realize is that these people had to work their way up from the ground up. Looking at the example of Steven Schussler, a famed author of the book It’s a Jungle in There as well as a multimillionaire, it’s clear that he got there through good work ethics, not intelligence. When telling his story, he recalled that for ages, he endured nothing but hardships and failure. His ideas were often bad, his friends and family criticized him and called him stupid, and he was on the verge of bankruptcy more than once. However, from each of these failures, he also claims that he found a way to learn from it. He worked out and implemented change after change into his ideas, eventually clawing his way up the ladder of success and becoming a millionaire. Steven Schussler wasn’t a genius with a high IQ. With a mediocre IQ and bad ideas, he was like an everyday Joe. However, because of his work ethics, he was resilient and got back up, learning each time until finally, his idea hit.

People have argued that these results were only made possible because of IQ. To them, work ethics don’t matter. After all, successful people and departments tend to have a high IQ. However, even with a high IQ, many people fail if they do not have a good work ethic. Take for instance, a Tennessee Fire Department which failed to save a home in 2010. Fire fighters are supposed to save homes and lives. However when they got to the fire, they were disoriented and lost, failing to implement their plan of action successfully. It’s not like they were unintelligent either. In fact, it’s estimated that their IQ was around 120, above the average of 100. However, what made this important difference was their lack of training. Because they lacked constant fires in that area, these FireFighters became complacent, and daily training regimen turned into a weekly one, then monthly, eventually becoming obsolete. If the idea of IQ indicating success is correct, they should have been able to implement their plan perfectly. Even more, a more “average” fire department such as the LA Fire Department sees large success. They don’t have the highest IQ. Yet, because of their hard work, they are able to succeed. It becomes clear that hard work and a good work ethic overshadows IQ, making this idea that IQ indicates success overrated.