Two Kinds Of Genius

Researchers have found that “genius – whether in art or architecture or even business – is not the sole province of 17-year-old Picassos and 22-year-old Andreessens. Instead, it comes in two very different forms, embodied by two very different types of people. ‘Conceptual innovators’ make bold, dramatic leaps in their disciplines. They do their breakthrough work when they are young. They make the rest of us feel like also-rans. Then there’s a second character type, someone who’s just as significant but trudging by comparison – ‘experimental innovators’.”