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  • Published: 4 February 2021
  • ISBN: 9780753558867
  • Imprint: Virgin Digital
  • Format: Audio Download

Think Again

The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know




Bestselling author and TED podcast star, Adam Grant examines the critical art of rethinking -- how questioning your beliefs and knowing what you don't know can lead you to success at work and happiness at home

The bestselling author of Give and Take and Originals examines the critical art of rethinking: learning to question your opinions and open other people's minds, which can position you for excellence at work and wisdom in life

Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In recent months, the pandemic has forced us all to reevaluate our assumptions about health and safety and multiple acts of police brutality have challenged most of us to reconsider our responsibility for fighting racism. Yet in our daily lives, too many of us still favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn. We surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions, when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process. The result is that our beliefs get brittle long before our bones. Intelligence is no cure, and it can even be a curse: there's evidence that being good at thinking can make us worse at rethinking. The brighter we are, the blinder we can become to our own limitations.

As an organizational psychologist, Adam Grant has spent his career exploring how we can open other people's minds--and our own. As Wharton's top-rated professor and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, one of his guiding principles in life is arguing like he's right but listening like he's wrong. With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, harness the surprising advantages of impostor syndrome, bring nuance into charged conversations about abortion and climate change, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners. You'll learn how an international debate champion wins arguments, a Black musician persuades white supremacists to abandon hate, a vaccine whisperer convinces anti-vaxxers to immunize their children, and how Adam has coaxed Yankees fans to root for the Red Sox. Think Again reveals that we don't have to believe everything we think or internalize everything we feel. It's an invitation to let go of views that are no longer serving us well and prize mental flexibility, humility, and curiosity over foolish consistency. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom.

  • Published: 4 February 2021
  • ISBN: 9780753558867
  • Imprint: Virgin Digital
  • Format: Audio Download

About the author

Adam Grant

Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist, Wharton's top-rated professor for seven straight years, and the New York Times bestselling author of three books that have sold over a million copies and been translated into 35 languages. He hosts the TED original podcast "WorkLife", which in the spring of 2018 reached #1 on the Apple charts. He has been recognized as one of the world's 10 most influential management thinkers, Fortune's 40 under 40, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and he has more than 2.7 million followers on social media. He also curates the Next Big Idea Club along with Susan Cain, Malcolm Gladwell, and Dan Pink, handpicking two new books each quarter for subscribers and donating 100% of profits to provide books for children in under-resourced communities.

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Praise for Think Again

Adam Grant believes that keeping an open mind is a teachable skill. And no one could teach this hugely valuable skill better than he does in this wonderful read. The striking insights of this brilliant book are guaranteed to make you rethink your opinions and your most important decisions

Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winner in economics and author of THINKING, FAST AND SLOW

THIS. This is the right book for right now. Yes, learning requires focus. But, unlearning and relearning requires much more -- it requires choosing courage over comfort. In THINK AGAIN, Adam Grant weaves together research and storytelling to help us build the intellectual and emotional muscle we need to stay curious enough about the world to actually change it. I've never felt so hopeful about what I don't know

Brené Brown, Ph.D., #1 New York Times bestselling author of DARE TO LEAD

Adam Grant makes a compelling case that if we have the humility and curiosity to reconsider our beliefs, we can always reinvent ourselves. Think Again helped me learn about how great thinkers and achievers don't let expertise or experience stand in the way of being perpetual students

M. Night Shyamalan, director of THE SIXTH SENSE and SPLIT

Wise, frank, and funny; a fabulous book about how to think more clearly and more kindly. Think Again offers a spellbinding mix of storytelling and groundbreaking research -- we urgently need this book right now

Tim Harford, bestselling author of How To Make The World Add Up

In a world of aggressive certitude, Adam Grant's latest book is a refreshing mandate for humble open-mindedness ... not just a useful lesson; it could be a vital one

Financial Times

In his latest book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know, [Grant] is in vintage form

Wall Street Journal

Delivers smart advice on unlearning assumptions and opening ourselves up to curiosity and humility

The Washington Post

Pushes us to reconsider, rethink, reevaluate and reimagine our beliefs, thoughts, and identities and get to the core of why we believe what we do, why it is so important to us, and why we are steadfast to hold on to those ideas and beliefs. . . . It teaches us to stop digging our heels and doubling down and consider other people's points of view so that we may grow our own. Once again, Adam Grant succeeded in turning our very way of thinking upside down as he pushes us to examine the obvious

Forbes

Blends psychology and self-help to prove how doubt, failing, and rethinking are instrumental to improving ourselves and our world. . . . In three sections, he outlines why we struggle to embrace feedback, how we can help others rethink effectively, and how our communities can shift to encourage rethinking

Business Insider

Grant is a born communicator-engaging and impossibly articulate. . . . Think Again . . . digs into the synaptic weirdness of why we think how we do and how we know what (we think) we know. The bottom line: In a world that's constantly changing, we could all benefit from deliberately reassessing our cherished opinions

Goodreads user

Rule number one: never miss a new Adam Grant book! I loved this one!

Malcolm Gladwell