On television with the “HPI” series or in bookstores with a number of best-selling books, the gifted and their “high intellectual potential” are in fashion. But in business? Attitudes are beginning to change, and some are seeking to promote “cognitive diversity”. At the origin of this development are often the employees themselves concerned. Excerpt from a report by “Special Envoy”.
After hesitating for a long time, she decided “to stop hiding” and display color. To be better understood by her employers, Mélodie, marketing director, added the mention “HPI” (high intellectual potential) to her CV. Luckily, the person who recruited her at Orange knew the acronym… her brother-in-law having been diagnosed with “HPI” himself, so she was already familiar with how the ones she describes worked “without making generalizations” as “people who have another way of approaching subjects, who are eager to learn, who share, who go where we go little, who are not afraid”. And she said to herself: “It’s going to be great with the team!”
Also, when Mélodie, during a meeting, taps on her phone, her colleagues are tolerant. They know that in reality, it is present and can perform two tasks at the same time. It would be able to do several things at the same time thanks to a number of neuronal connections higher than the average, combined with a greater speed of circulation of the nerve impulse between the neurons.
“Getting out of caricature”
At 42, Mélodie assumes this difference. She “considers that if we want things to change in mentalities, representations, clichés and stereotypes, we just have to dare to talk about it”. In this sense, she has set up an internal forum at the company, bringing together employees with “high intellectual potential” – a bit like the Mensa club, of which she is also a member.
“It’s part of a movement, she explains, because the more we raise awareness, the more we will know, the more we will come out of clichés, and the more we will accept. That is to say, we are going to stop having people who say ‘the HPI… he or she is having a blast’, or ‘this is what I can see in series, in films ‘…” It is mainly about “get out of the caricature”… Mélodie, she says “ often that it should be as innocuous as being left-handed or left-handed”.
Excerpt from “All HPI?”, a report to see in “Special Envoy”, May 4, 2023.
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