Renaissance Minds - Focus Your Genius

10 Ways to Identify a Renaissance Mind
by Tammy Cook

Perhaps you're wondering if you're a Renaissance Mind (RM). Or maybe it's your spouse, child, best friend, or co-worker whom you suspect of having the RM personality. Either way, what is it exactly that I mean by "Renaissance Mind," and how can you identify this elusive type in the wild, so to speak?

I'm so glad you asked! It's estimated that about 10-20% of the population is made up of this creative type of thinker. So, in a small town of 20,000, that would "only" be about 1,000 to 2,000 people. In a city the size of Chicago...you get the picture!

So odds are good that you or somebody you know is indeed one of these mysterious, miraculous creatures. Er, I mean, individuals. In order to help identify who these creative thinkers might be, here is a handy-dandy Top 10 list describing some of the key elements of the RM personality.

1. Renaissance Minds love to think up or start new projects...Following through is another story.
Whether they lose interest, get bogged down in details, or actually complete enough of the project to satisfy their inner drive, RMs are usually much better starters than finishers. Often, RMs are frustrated by this trait. It's actually well documented that DaVinci had a problem completing projects - after he'd been paid the commission! While the planning and dreaming up new projects and possibilities is thrilling, the detail part that comes after doesn't always feel quite so interesting to the RM.

2. Renaissance Minds are divergent rather than linear thinkers.
Linear Thinking - aka, Sports Bracket Imagine a sports bracket, where the teams face off, and the winning team advances. Ok, no need to imagine it, just look over to the right there. That's a great picture of how a linear thinker processes and, well, thinks. They make decisions in this linear fashion, comparing 1 to 2 and 3 to 4, and narrowing down the field until they decide on the final answer (all the way on the right, in the image).

Who loves Tinker Toys?! Now, imagine Tinker Toys. Ok, ok, the pic is there on the other side, the heck with imagination. So what's the point? Well give me a minute to type as fast as you're thinking. Now, divergent thinkers, such as our lovely and unique RMs, tend to think more along the lines of Tinker Toys. Each thought (yellow "connector") sparks 2, 3, or more other thoughts...which then tell 2 friends, and so on, and as you can see it quickly becomes a tangled web of great ideas and creative thoughts. So how in the world can the RM pick just ONE of those great ideas to concentrate on?! (Rhetorical question, no need to email me your answers.) But this happens to be a beautiful segue into our next item -

3. Renaissance Minds are usually adept at, even thrive on, having several projects in progress at once.
Multi-tasking, you say? This is multi-tasking on steroids. The more in progress, the merrier, except for the frustration that inevitably arises from having too much cookin', and nothin' to eat!

4. Renaissance Minds seem to struggle with procrastination to a much greater extent than the rest of the population.
See point # 3! Thriving on several projects makes it hard to focus on one and maintain momentum. Also, RMs have a difficult time prioritizing, because to them EVERY idea/project/task seems important! The RM tends to see the big picture, and so she has a hard time reducing The Big Picture down to small, manageable elements. Also, she has a hard time overcoming resistance to working on something already past the fun planning/brainstorming part, because life has so many other interesting (and new!) things to offer.

5. Renaissance Minds often grapple with developing effective, individualized organizational skills.
Part of this struggle ties in with The Big Picture issue mentioned in # 4. RMs see more connections between things than linear thinkers do, so it can sometimes be difficult for them to categorize items or papers. Also, RMs are often visual learners, and "out of sight, out of mind" is an absolute truth for them. As soon as something is put away or filed, the RM focuses on the next bright and shiny thing, and may never get back to that unfinished-but-put-away-project. (We won't mention all the unfinished-and-not-put-away-projects here, ok? Oops. We won't mention them again, that is.)

6. Renaissance Minds tend to resist rigid, linear time management techniques and scheduling.
RMs sometimes seem to live in their own time zones. The more rigid and crowded their schedules, the less likely the RM is to be able to stick to it. Also, RMs who also have ADD may have issues with hyper-focus, where they actually lose all track of time.

7. Renaissance Minds are overwhelmed by too many choices.
Maybe I'll even mix 2 together, too... The RM tends to feel that making a choice is limiting and restrictive, and that by making a choice it rules out all of the other potential choices and opportunities. If a RM has to make a choice, and it's a difficult decision because all of the options seem equally viable, often he will stall at the decision making process and not progress beyond that point without a grueling internal struggle.

8. Flexibility is a requirement in nearly everything that the Renaissance Mind does.
This correlates strongly with # 7. RMs are extremely resistant when they feel that they won't have the freedom to change their direction with their whims. RMs don't want to be boxed in or trapped into one career or role for life. The freedom to recreate and reinvent themselves can be a crucial factor to the RM.

9. Renaissance Minds seem to function at 2 speeds; Turbo and slow-mo.
While the "average" person has a tendency to consistently operate at about 60%, RMs seem to have only 2 pre-programmed speeds - Turbo, around 100%, and slow-mo, or about 20%! This is sometimes very difficult for the average person to comprehend. When engaged or interested in a task, an RM easily gets into "The Zone," and can focus intently for hours. They often amaze others with how quickly they can complete some tasks and projects. On the other hand, when disinterested or bored with a task, the RM seems to slow down to "sluggish" (or worse!) and struggles to make any progress at all. RMs find it very difficult to focus and to generate energy when in slow-mo mode.

10. Renaissance Minds always seem to be learning something new or infused with some new burning passion!
RMs have an unquenchable inquisitiveness about a wide variety of unrelated subjects. While the more specialized type of person can notice another's interests, and simply nod, the eternally curious RM will probe and question and try to learn as much about the other person's interest as possible, especially if it's something they haven't thought to explore yet. However, each RM also has a few topics which absolutely do NOT pique their interest at all, no matter how many other people jump on the bandwagon. So while they have a wide variety of interests, RMs usually are not interested in every single thing. Usually.

So that's a wrap. I hope that I've given you enough clarification into who the Renaissance Mind is, that you can easily tell if you or somebody you're close to qualifies. When all of these traits (or quirks, however you see them) work together to their best advantage, the Renaissance Mind can truly be a force to be reckoned with.