“It is not the strongest of the species that survives,
nor the most intelligent that survives.
It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”
Leon C. Megginson
The “new normal” has become just normal. Most of us have adapted to working remotely. The skills to navigate the virtual world has become a necessity. Isn’t it then, the right time to embrace a sixth intelligence? Virtual Intelligence is the ability to adapt, navigate and thrive in the virtual world. We need to include it with the five accepted intelligences: Emotional, Intellectual, Spiritual, Action, and Intuitive.
Of course, we need all the intelligences to be “fully human”. The 6th intelligence is a confirmation that we are pioneers in a world that is forever changing. It does not matter how old we are, how stuck we are in our ways – we need to adapt to creating a workspace from home. We need to be tech savvy, but more than that, we need skills to manage a more fluid time, distractions, creating a virtual presence, and getting our message across through the appropriate platform. The internet can only help with some of these competencies, we need to develop coping mechanisms to stay relevant, to manage anxiety and burnout and flourish in our own space.
