• home
  • about
    • emotional intelligence at work
    • GradStart (graduate performance at work)
    • Jeremy Marchant
    • this website
  • how we help
    • people
    • teams
    • businesses
    • other organisations
  • what’s the problem?
  • blog and diversions
    • Jeremy Marchant’s blog
    • newsletters
    • quotations
    • music
    • diverting videos
  • contact
emotional intelligence at work
jeremy@emotionalintelligenceatwork.com | 01453 764 615
Intelligence at Work Linkedin Link Intelligence at Work Twitter Link Intelligence at Work Youtube Link
  • essential
    • relationships at work
    • leadership
    • communication
    • emotional intelligence
  • people
    • leadership
    • personal growth
    • managing people
    • successful teams
    • conflict resolution
    • employability
  • business
    • networking and advocacy
    • business growth and change
    • customer service
    • employability
  • stories
    • work stories
    • more stories
  • short pieces
  • long reads
  • videos
    • Jeremy Marchant’s videos
    • Jeremy Marchant’s videos
    • emotionally intelligent videos

Blog

11
JUL
2014

“How is EQ different from IQ?”

by : Jeremy Marchant
comment : 0

M

A recent post on LinkedIn asked this question.

“EQ” is a term deliberately coined to be like “IQ”.

IQ stands for “intelligence quotient”. It’s a number derived from marking a person’s answers to a standard set of tests. The tests, which are based on ones developed over a century ago, presume to assess people’s ability at rational thought.

Whether you think IQ has any meaning in 2014 is a matter of belief, not science. I think it is about as useful as Myers Briggs tests (ie, not very).

Emotional intelligence is about the capacity for insight into, and understanding of, one’s own emotions and behaviours, and those of others; and a capacity to manage one’s own emotions, and influence those of others.

It is essentially a descriptive, qualitative concept.

The idea that these abilities might be measurable is bizarre (which doesn’t stop a lot people from wanting it to be true).  In my book, emotional quotient—the idea that you can measure abilities such as your awareness of others’ emotional states, is meaningless.

Measuring emotional intelligence is not an emotionally intelligent thing to want to do.

However, a lot of people seem to want to measure a lot of things that can’t be measured. I suspect this comes from the over-weening dominance of accountants in business.

For example, there’s a wellknown maxim, “What can’t be measured can’t be managed”.  This is clearly rubbish. But people make money by trying to convince other people that it is true, and the people who are duped are happy to be duped because it enables both parties to collude in the belief that it is possible to control the world.

I suspect that, if a way of talking about others’ emotional intelligence is needed, a qualitative vocabulary might be developed, rather in the manner that wine connioisseurs and others, talk about wine.

Learn more:
>  What is emotional intelligence?
>  What emotional intelligence is not

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

*
*

captcha *

Further reading

  • NHS reform:  missing something fundamentalNHS reform: missing something fundamental
  • Book review:  Olga Tokarczuk, FlightsBook review: Olga Tokarczuk, Flights
  • Why brexit won’t happen―3:  What could possibly go wrong?Why brexit won’t happen―3: What could possibly go wrong?
  • Why you can’t “measure” customer serviceWhy you can’t “measure” customer service
  • Why are many people unhappy at work?Why are many people unhappy at work?
  • «Nature» versus «nurture» : time to bury this non-argument«Nature» versus «nurture» : time to bury this non-argument
  • Let’s be clear about politicians’ purposesLet’s be clear about politicians’ purposes
  • Ten things Radio 4 should do betterTen things Radio 4 should do better
  • EU referendum—7:  How to decide how to voteEU referendum—7: How to decide how to vote
  • UK’s migrant problem solved at a strokeUK’s migrant problem solved at a stroke