Multiple Intelligences for Inspired Workplaces

When we witness a basket ball player’s inexplicable maneuver in the air or a classical singer extracting another shimmering high C from the gristle of the vocal chords, we don’t classify them as being intelligent. These talents seem to be tangential to intelligence than proof of it. But, Dr. Howard Gardner, Father of Multiple Intelligences theory, disagrees. In both the player and the singer, Gardner sees intelligence – kinesthetic intelligence in the case of the basket ball player and musical intelligence in that of the classical singer. Gardner does not limit intelligence to the traditional realms of logical reasoning and the ability to manipulate words and numbers. Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences identifies eight distinct forms of intelligence, which have their own core component processes and end states. MI theory that has greatly influenced the domain of education has now made a foray into the business world as a valuable lens for business leaders to view the inner world of employees. This book “Multiple Intelligences for Inspired Workplaces” showcases the role of MI in the field of business. MI is depicted as a user-friendly tool for the identification of individual skills and uncovering the mosaic of skills needed for various business applications, such as able leadership, better personnel relations, collaborative teams/creative culture, intelligent decisions, excellence, multi-skilling, multi-tasking, feel inside customer’s emotional experience and for an alignment between employee and job profile for the best fit. The book, with its numerous illustrations, anecdotes, MI models and analogies is an earnest, engaging and educative endeavor to create MI-inspired workplaces.