The logical answer would be: “Yes, of course you need to be smart, how else you will succeed?”

I know what I know and like to think I know what I don’t know. You don’t have to be smart to know what you don’t know, however, you do need to recognize your weaknesses and figure out a way to mitigate them. Probably the best way to mitigate your weaknesses even if you aren’t the sharpest knife in the drawer is to surround yourself with smart people. 

One of the highest compliments anyone paid me recently was by John Doran President of Domicile when he said “you are not afraid to surround yourself with smart people.” I had originally negotiated for a property owned by Domicile for TheCodeFactory, alas it was not to be. However, a great learning experience.

Anyway back to the original question: “Do you have to be smart to be successful?” If you are capable of recognizing your weaknesses and surrounding yourself with people smarter than you can accomplish a whole lot. I think that answers the question in a roundabout sort of way.

Cheers,
Ian Graham