The author of http://www.businesspundit.com/ posted this shorthand list of traits designed for success:
1) the ability to postpone short-term gain for a greater long-term reward;
2) optimism;
3) ability to deal with stress; and
4) initiative.
The discussion referenced whether IQ was genetic or learned, and the author's point was that even large differences in IQ did not matter in the modern world as much as the four traits above. I have always said that delayed self-gratification is extremely important to success, but with so many higher paying careers involving an understanding of mathematics, an ability or willingness to understand mathematics will also be important. As technology slowly eliminates the need for various service careers, those sectors will have to unionize or determine how to move the workers who are displaced into more productive positions. Yet, no IQ test can pinpoint desire (#4 above), which can overcome many inherent flaws.
"And if an epitaph be my story, I'd have a short one ready for my own: I had a lover's quarrel with the world." -- Robert Frost
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