I like being around smart people. One of the best things about the R&D group I work for is that I’m rarely the smartest person in the conversation. Years ago I got in a rough spot and seriously considered shifting to a different industry. My smarter-than-me beloved wife pointed out that I would be less happy to work in an environment where I was nearly always the smartest person in the room.
Yet, it’s not an IQ thing. It’s about people who consistently do hard things. That’s the real value of an excellent peer.
Those hard things can include:
Solving difficult multi-dimensional technical problems
Skillfully navigating emotional situations and egos
Being professional and doing a job well, even the parts you don’t like
Sacrificing your immediate interests for the good of others
Being faithful in a marriage which is not exciting and loaded with struggles
Resisting deep-but-wrong desires
Parenting toddlers and teens and young adults
Reading hard books
Mastering new crafts and new skills
Learning to be content
Fighting for joy amidst painful losses
Leading people through crisis and change
You and I do well to surround ourselves with people who consistently do hard things. These are the people who seek wisdom and have earned wisdom to share. These are the deep people.
They’ll be your biggest encouragers, too, because they know. Their challenges might not be exactly like yours, but they know.
