When Deutsche Bank named John Cryan as its new chief executive three weeks ago, the commentary had an insidious subtext. He has “an enormous brain”, one friend told the FT. “Very thoughtful,” said a former colleague. Ominously for Mr Cryan, these comments echoed those made about Vikram Pandit when he unexpectedly stepped down as Citigroup’s CEO in 2012. He was “too cerebral”, said critics of the Citi boss.

The implication in both cases is that being a brainbox is a disqualification for running some of the largest and most technically complex companies. I was brought up to respect and pursue academic success, but while it grates that the world believes analytically minded swots rarely make great business leaders, the world is right (even if Mr Cryan ultimately turns out to be one of the few exceptions).

No less an intellect than Bill Gates told an invited FT audience last week that his background (learning about the world by reading an encyclopedia, starting at A for Aardvark) made him think at first that the obvious corporate hierarchy would be one based on IQ, with the brightest at the top.