Book Notes: “Think Again” by Adam Grant

My wife once recommended I listen to a podcast with guest Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist. I listened and liked it so much, I wrote notes.

Knowing how much I enjoyed Adam’s thoughts from that podcast, my wife later came across Adam’s book Think Again at the book store.

So she (lovingly) bought it for me.

And I read it.

And now I’m noting highlights that stood out to me. It helps me remember what I read while serving as a reference for later.

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Reconsidering something we believe deeply can threaten our identities, making it feel as if we're losing part of ourselves (4)

when it comes to our own knowledge and opinions, we often favor feeling right over being right. (18)

My favorite bias is the “I’m not biased” bias, in which people believe they’re more objective than others. (25)

We learn more from people who challenge our thought process than those who affirm our conclusions (86)

The goal is not to be wrong more often. It’s to recognize that we’re all wrong more often than we'd like to admit.

Predicting the future is hard. Historians can’t even predict the past.

The person most likely to persuade you to change your mind is you. (112) [not enough people take advantage of this fact]

You don’t have to convince someone that you’re right. You just have to open their mind to the possibility that they might be wrong. (113)

we can rarely motivate someone else to change. We're better off helping them find their own motivation to change. (146)

Pay isn’t a carrot we need to dangle to motivate people, it’s a symbol of how much we value them. Managers can motivate people by designing meaningful jobs in which people have freedom, mastery, belonging and impact. They can show appreciation by paying people well. (114)