Definitely street smarts. But I think having a right personality is far more important. Book smarts is only useful in school. Once you enter the real world, it's your personality that determines how successful you are.

I couldn't agree more.  You can always hire/teach smart.  Personality can't be taught.  The most sucessful leaders have great personalities, street smarts and a tad book smarts

I discount a lot of what Ozzie says, since he has no filter and the mouth-brain connection isn't always working.  While he s right about his own experience coming here, the part about dropping the Harvard folks into Caracas made no sense, since most people would have a hard time making a real life down there.

That said, I've come to believe that street smarts are more versatile. Not that book smarts don't matter, because they do. But really, really good street smarts can go a long way.

I heard something attributed to former White Sox (now Marlins) manager Ozzie Guillen, who supposedly never even graduated high school. The line went something like this:

I’m smarter than a lot of guys who go to Harvard. When you come to this country
and you can’t speak any English at 16 years old, and you have to survive, you
have to have something smart in your body. If you take one of those Harvard guys
and drop them in the middle of Caracas, they won’t survive. But if you drop me
in the middle of Harvard, I’ll survive.

What he said...I believe it. Street smarts are versatile.

Great reponses!  I noticed a lot of folks chose both.  I agree.  I see a lot of us like to make our own rules, haha!

As for Sheldon Cooper, doesn't he remind you of Pee Wee Herman? 

A little of column A and a little of column B - but it's definitely situational.  I often see street smarts as sort of a synonym of 'common sense' (can someone with book smarts tell me if a phrase can be a synonym?  Witty!).

 

That said - Eric mentioned Sheldon Cooper;  I think if you have a lot of book smarts you need to at least have a modicum of street smarts to avoid coming off like an absent minded professor type (and spend your career in the laboratory).

Lol. Sheldon Cooper- the true representation of being only book smart. Great illustration gang.

That said - Eric mentioned Sheldon Cooper;  I think if you have a lot of book smarts you need to at least have a modicum of street smarts to avoid coming off like an absent minded professor type (and spend your career in the laboratory).

However, what trumps all the "smarts" is Emotional Smarts/Intelligence.  Relating to people, working with people, empathizing with people - these skills are more important and more critical to success than any "street" or book smarts.

Perhaps we need to define street smarts and book smarts.  Book smarts are good students and street smarts are people who use common sense to evaluate problems or situations.  The perfect situation is both, however I prefer street smarts over book smarts if I had to choose.  Most successful people are able to make quick decisions based on their experience. They are able to apply their knowledge to a variety of real life situations.

Emphasis was added by me.  I think this is a pretty important point. 

My answer depends on context.  If I were stuck on an island with someone, I'd prefer that they have "street smarts," since it'll be innovation that gets you off the island or keeps you alive on it.  If I were building something and had to follow instructions, I'd prefer to work with someone who is "book smart."