John D. Gartner, Ph. D.

Psychologist, Professor, Author

Have you ever wondered why your boss seems a little crazy? Well, it turns out that touch of mania might be why he or she is your boss in the first place! Johns Hopkins psychologist, Dr. John Gartner, has written a groundbreaking book about hypomania: a mildly manic, genetically-based temperament (which is not an illness), commonly found among driven creative people in general, and entrepreneurs in particular. In his recently published book, The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (A Little) Craziness and (A Lot of) Success in America, Dr. John Gartner examines some of the most successful figures in American history and how their hypomanic tendencies are responsible for their world-changing accomplishments.            

Gartner contends that this hypomanic edge is the secret ingredient to America’s greatness. Populated largely by immigrants, America has attracted a self-selected group of unusual people who were constitutionally different than their friends and family who didn’t brave the great leap into the new world. Immigrants are more likely to be restless, energetic, risk takers with big ideas, who then pass their hypomanic genes down to their descendents. The New York Times named Gartner’s discovery of the “hypomanic American” as one of the most “original, innovative and important new ideas of 2005.”

A professor of medical psychology at Johns Hopkins, and a practicing clinical psychologist, Gartner stumbled on this fascinating trend after the death of his father, whom Gartner says he wasn’t able to appreciate until he was gone. Growing up in New York City, Gartner watched his father relentlessly pursue what seemed at the time to be outlandish projects-- instead of practicing law, the profession he was trained for, and earning a living. Gartner described how his father hounded the New York Planning Commission to require that buildings rising higher than zoning code permitted be required to have an open space, plazas where people could eat lunch. After years of solo lobbying, eventually the commission did pass the legislation, and it changed New York’s landscape forever. What Gartner didn’t understand during his father’s lifetime was that his father possessed a genetic disposition toward action, motivation, energy, creativity and confidence that pushed him to follow his dreams, whether they seemed plausible or not. It made him an irresistible force.

His engaging and humorous approach make Gartner a consistent hit with his audiences. His is a message that needs to be heard by the business community and by every educational institution as a whole, as everyone stands to benefit from a better understanding of the hypomanic personality.

Speaking Topics:

• The Hypomanic Temperament in Business and Other Enterprises

• The Link Between a Little Craziness and a lot of Success

• The American Temperament

• How to Manage the Hypomanic Temperament

• The Role of Hypomania in American History

• The Psychology of the Entrepreneur

• How Hypomania and Capitalism Saved America

• Examining the Hypomanic Disposition of the World’s Greatest Leaders

• Not the Teacher’s Pet: Cutting up in class and other irritating habits of successful businessmen.

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