Nativity Quotient

Recently, during a tete-a-tete with a senior business leader with HR background, I was inquiring about why some people with average IQ and EQ still tend to thrive. The backdrop and context we were discussing were about a local employee enjoying phenomenal support despite an average rating on performance metrics. Figured out the reason as Nativity Quotient (NQ). After Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ), it is now time that we know about Nativity Quotient (NQ). No, don’t google it right away, you will not find any mention of it. This term is yet to find a place in Textbooks or Wikipedia. Here’s to find how local stays in the focal centre, despite inadequacies.

NQ or nativity quotient is the intelligence or skill to leverage one’s acquaintances or being popular or notorious. This is an Intelligence to gain more mileage by creating a connection to the locale. To understand NQ better, I shall explain with simple examples.  

As sportspeople or sports enthusiasts, we are familiar with the “home ground” or “home crowd”.  We leverage the knowledge of the field, pitch, ground, people, and weather far better than the visiting teams. People are bound to cheer us since they know us better than the newcomers.  It is a tilt in favour of the known devil against the unknown (devil or angel) whatever. Of course, there are situations where the local teams were attacked for not performing well. It can be wrapped with different names large to small, from religious, national, state, linguistic, racist, caste, community, or locality wise divide.

We have seen, read, or heard about how some Indians were/ are being treated in different countries. How locals have created a ruckus for the visitors. Not painting everything Red. It is good to know how locals have treated Indian students abroad. Read from Indra Nooyi’s My Life in Full, that as a mother of a teenage daughter, had to change schools because of the way her daughter was treated. This is despite her stature and affluence. Similar incidents have been expressed by Priyanka Chopra in her book Unfinished. In all such incidents, the nativity quotient had prevailed over meritocracy.

While wisdom appreciates IQ, EQ, skill and performance, the lack of wisdom will lead to NQ. Such locals take up the NQ strategy, to make up for the absence of the former four traits. In the workplace, you must have come across local employees throwing tantrums when finding themselves in a challenging situation.

In industrial relations, this was the general tendency of the unions. Now, after dissuading unions from such detrimental acts through continuous education, they are now focused on progressive, productive, and mutually rewarding behaviours. Yet there are some individuals, who, when questioned about their accountability, shall throw tantrums to gain the local support to divert or dilute the focus from the fundamentals. The locals fall easy prey to such appeals and cheer for the undeserving local candidate. Nativity Quotient wins the battle here, whether it is for the good or bad is for the time to tell. There are several such instances that each one of us would have come across while working across different towns, states, and countries.

So, it’s time that we take stock of this not-so-new phenomenon that can pop up in any arena, social or professional. Watch for people with nativity quotient in our social and business endeavours. While we have discussed the cons of NQ, there are merits too, especially with the front-liners. An in-depth understanding of local geography, lingua-franca, cultures, trends, etc. Plan well and work smart to keep them at an adequate distance, to maintain healthy and professional relationships. Beware of NQ.