Street Smart v Book Smart

Today I will be explaining the differences between book smart and street smarts.

You don’t have to be in the streets to be street smart, but you’ll get taken advantage of if you aren’t.

I believe that street smarts is more important than book smarts when it comes to success in life.

Of course, if you have both, then you can count yourself as one of the very lucky few in the world.

More often than not, we are each blessed with one or the other.

For me, I can tell you that my street smarts is stronger than my book smarts.

I would also say that the major driver of my successes so far in life has been my street smarts, and not my book smarts. For the vast majority of my academic life, I was not a great student. In fact, I was an average student most of my childhood.

However, I would do very well on tests if I studied VERY hard. but often I took them without studying (because I was too busy playing sports).

I’m a C student.

In a book, you are trying to absorb someone else’s take on the world, and however amazing the writer is, you are at best one degree removed from the actual experience.

Street smart means you’ve put yourself at risk and survived…or thrived. Or have scars. You’ve been tested and have a bank of courage to depend on when you are tested again. Being street smart can lead to book smarts as the street smart senses what works and doesn’t and you can adapt accordingly.

• Book smarts have trouble with dealing with ordinary, everyday tasks. Their practical skills and common sense needs a little more improvement.

• Book smarts are not so good at analysing their environment. Because of this, they come off as naive and easy to manipulate.

• Book smarts are called “smartest dumb people.” This is because they can have difficulty in ordinary situations.

• Street smarts are often underestimated in work environments. The reason is that they lack high academic degrees.

• Learning environments can be a hard place to flourish in for street smarts.

• Academic requirements and school settings can be quite a challenge for street smarts.

The street is rough, raw, unsympathetic, and real. The street doesn’t cater to your emotions and it doesn’t care about what’s politically correct. There are no safe places on the street and no-one cares about what you’re going through. what you identify as, or even if you’re a good person or not.

The only thing that matters on the street is what you have, what you want, and how well you can defend it once you have it.

There are several places in the real world where you need to be aware of how people think, behave, and scheme to pass you up, put you down, or take what you’ve earned.

You can’t learn how to be street smart from a book. You can’t learn it in a classroom, from a podcast, or even from this Article.

I can only show you how to prime your mind to be more street smart so you can better navigate real life and better navigate the people and obstacles in it.

Differences between book smarts and street smarts:

1. If someone has been street smart since an early age, the chances are that his life and destiny trained him to become one.
On the other hand, If someone has always been book smart, the chances are that society and/or their parents convinced them to become one.

2. If a difficult situation arises, street smarts prefer to head on the situation and improvise while they learn.  On the other hand, Book smarts might even struggle in easy situations.

3. Street smarts don’t lose confidence even in the tough times. They have complete faith in themselves.

However, Book smarts might lose confidence and faith when the times get tough

4. Street smarts might be considered under qualified for prestigious job roles because of a lack of higher degrees.

On the other hand, Book smarts might be qualified for most of the prestigious job roles.

5. It isn’t easy for most people to vibe with book smarts. Which is what leads to them finding it to be able to excel in social situations

6. People ask street smart individuals for a lot of favours because they know the street smart individual can get things done. If they can’t say no, they might get exploited.

7. Lack of academic qualifications could lead to a street smart person not being able to land their dream job.

8. A Street smart individual can switch up their personality due to the current settings of their environment.

People who rely on street smartness are more open to taking risks in life. Taking risks is essential to life for as long as you are afraid of doing something due to the risks that might be involved, you will never discover your true potential. You can never know if you can do something or not unless you go ahead and try it out, no matter what consequences the consequences may be.

There is one fundamental reason why I believe street smarts is more important than book smarts when it comes to succeeding in the real world.

It is because the real world and the academic world do not operate in the same way.

But why is this?

This is because the keys to success are very different.

In the academic world, there is a clear structure, a timeline, a reward system, transparent rules, and equal information.

• If you study hard and do your homework, you will do reasonably well.
• Every day is planned out for you in advance. Every year is planned out for you in advance.
• You don’t have to think.
• You just have to follow the system.
• Everyone starts out each year on the same level and is essentially guaranteed to pass to the next grade level if he/she puts in the effort.

In many ways, the academic world is fair.

Structure is the key word for the academic environment. People who thrive under structure and clarity are best suited for academics.

By definition, book smarts are those who have flourished in an academic environment. If you identify as such, you’re the type who thrives in learning environments. You love lectures and have no problem reading textbooks from cover to cover.

As a book smart, you solve problems using your knowledge about the whats and whys. You stick by facts and approach matters from an intellectual point of view.

The main advantage of book smarts is that you’re a sponge when it comes to information. That means it’s easy for you to understand concepts and fill in the blanks of test papers. This skill gives you an edge when it comes to achieving graduate degrees and creating a good CV.

The real world does not operate this way.

In the real world, there are a million choices.

Do you know how to navigate without clear information?

Do you even know what you are good at?

Do you learn the right lessons from every good, bad, and ugly experience?

There is no clear structure and there is usually no clear path or reward system. Often, there are unspoken rules in your work organisations.

• Politics
• Power
• Social dynamics
• Leadership abilities
• Professional networks

And social status play a big part in an individual’s ability to succeed in life. To succeed in this environment, a person needs to navigate successfully in an opaque world and make the right decisions.

Do you know how to kiss ass before you can kick it? Sometimes you gotta play the politics within the environment(s) you’re in. A book cannot teach this.

Of course, a person must have reasonable intelligence to succeed, but a high IQ can often be an obstacle to success in the real world.

A high IQ might help in more academic business environments (like consulting or banking), but it is often not the determining factor for success as an entrepreneur.

In the real world, things are constantly changing and you will always have to be adapting.

• There is no transparency.
• There are often no rules or structures.
• People are coming in and out of your life.
• Opportunities are everywhere, but it won’t matter if you are blind to them.

Street smart people can navigate well in this environment, but book smart people often feel lost because of the lack of structure, transparency, and information.

Examples of Street Smart people

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook

He started to code Facebook in his dorm room. After realising the potential of Facebook, he dropped out of Uni to focus on Facebook.

Even though he didn’t finish his degree immediately, he was an extremely skilled software engineer. But as a street smart, he had an instinct that what he had in his hands was an opportunity. He grabbed that chance and capitalised on his discovery.

Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin

He had a tough time coping with school because of his dyslexia. It was at the age of 16 that he chose to drop out of his academics completely.

But that doesn’t mean that he gave up—no, he was looking to become an entrepreneur.

At 16, he started a magazine entitled “Student,” which was his first-ever business venture. That’s what got the ball rolling.

The rest is history.

David Geffen, business magnate, producer and film studio executive

Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda are movies that wouldn’t be possible without him.

Just like Richard Branson, his school difficulties were due to his dyslexia. This lead to him being rejected from several universities.

His first job was as a talent agent, but with the help of a few people he worked with, he was able to start his management company.

He then went on to be the founder of a few record and movie studios.

Today, he is a billionaire.

You might have noticed that the wealthiest businessmen and the most successful entrepreneurs are street smarts. But if you think that only street smarts can win the entrepreneurial game, you’re only half right.

Being book smart or street smart isn’t the determiner or the key to success.

having both education and experience can boost your chances of success. But, if you only have one of the two, or none at all, you can still make it as an entrepreneur.

A lot of multi-millionaire business people today never stepped into university. But a lot of scholars with advanced degrees aren’t exactly living the life they wanted either.

This is similar to people who think they need a business degree in order to run a successful business. When in fact, they’ll learn MORE about business from having a sales based job. 

Having a business degree will make an individual a GREAT candidate in a managerial position within a company rather than a CEO of a company.

A* students usually end up working for C Students.

Conclusion

The purpose of this article isn’t to discourage having an education, it’s just to shed light on the different kinds of intelligences.

If you are someone who is more book smart, you will THRIVE working in a high level position within a company.

If you are someone who is more street smart, you will have a better chance of achieving success from starting your own business.

To be a fully rounded and powerful individual you MUST be well-versed in both forms of intellect.

Each smart comes with it’s weaknesses, but each has significant advantages, too.

Adapting the best characteristics of both sides can make you a well-rounded person.

Excelling in academics and having a broad knowledge can size you up.

Having years of practice gives you wisdom and strength. But without studying the technical aspects of your work, you can be lost.

Street smarts aren’t guaranteed to win all the time. Neither are book smarts. But if you have a balance between both, you will get to where you want to be.

Remember the fact that becoming street smart, book smart, or both would be totally useless if you don’t take action and travel on the right path.

For instance, any book smart who’s always into books is much better than a street smart who robs people for a living and often visits the jail.

Likewise, an average street smart with just a few life experiences is much better than a book smart who keeps reading fantasy stories in books.

You can have all the the degrees in the world but if you don’t have a hustler’s mentality, ambition, and common sense you’ll be lost. 

In the book of life, the answers are not in the back.

Till next time.