We gain knowledge, we obtain qualifications and degrees ¿ but does this allow us to act in the diverse real-life situations we face, from medical diagnosis to essay writing, from mathematical problems to the assessment of a project? This book addresses the method and results of a wholly original study, based on the following question: what makes us competent? What allows us to act in concrete ways to process situations that require much more than knowledge? The study deconstructs our internal mechanisms and sheds light on the respective roles that cognitive and emotional factors play in our ability to process complex situations. The results are drawn from a database that includes over 11,000 people from 8 countries across 3 continents, speaking 4 different languages. The results reveal some striking insights into the variables that influence our potential to act, including age, gender, culture, and the relevant areas of competency. The study offers, in a concrete way, based on a series of multiple-choice questions (MCQ), a way to very precisely determine each person¿s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to taking action, at both emotional and cognitive levels. It therefore lays the foundations for finding specific ways of increasing everyone¿s potential.