Social Intelligence

Using data from 900,000 respondents across 3 continents the Lab has for more than 15 years measured and mapped the impact of a changing social fabric on public policy, marketplace and workplace behavior, and the political landscape.

Social intelligence describes the exclusively human capacity to use very large brains to effectively navigate and negotiate complex social relationships and environments. It is social intelligence or the richness of our qualitative life, rather than our quantitative intelligence, that truly makes humans what they are – for example, what it’s like to be a human being living at the center of the conscious present, surrounded by smells and tastes and feels and the sense of being an extraordinary metaphysical entity with properties which hardly seem to belong to the physical world.

Social scientist, Dr Ross Honeywill views social intelligence as an aggregated measure of self and social awareness, evolved social beliefs and attitudes, and a capacity and appetite to manage complex social change. A person with a high social intelligence quotient (SQ) is no better than someone with a low SQ, they just have different attitudes, hopes, and desires.

Social Intelligence is the new wave of neuroscience sweeping the world. Without it, you will never reach your full potential.

Social Intelligence & Business

We find ourselves at a pivotal moment where managers and entrepreneurs worldwide are recognising the importance of changing the way they work, live, and play.

Recent studies reveal that we use different parts of our brain for analytical thinking and social thinking. When one is activated the other is suppressed. So, analytical thinking (usually associated with IQ) is really good for logical reasoning and problem solving, but it simultaneously reduces the social thinking associated with social intelligence (SQ).

This explains why poor decisions are typically made using highly analytical thinking with little or no consideration for how people will feel about the decision and its potential for success.

Entrepreneurs and managers who are not fully equipped for success exhibit strong analytical skills and an intense motivation to get things done, to solve problems.

Successful leaders, on the other hand, find a balance between analytical problem solving, social thinking, and behaviour.

Entrepreneurs and managers, therefore, need to lift their social thinking and social behaviour – be constantly aware of their own social intelligence.