A must read book for anyone and everyone. The ability to open your mind to new ideas, especially those that challenge what you think you know, is the key to our society moving forward. I will be reading this again and recommending it to everyone.

This book really resonated with me and I recommend it to anyone that has a tough conversation in the future. I told a friend about it and he immediately downloaded the audio book. The book promotes listening and trying to influence others with empathy. Also, how about being more open minded?

There is real wisdom in this book, particularly the section about talking to the vaccine hesitant (or people who disagree with you, in general). It is also a good reminder to take stock of situations and not be afraid to try a new route.

thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for my eARC. What a great, important read in this world of increasing echo chambers and half-truths. Think Again challenges you to step out of the mentality of "this is how we've always done it" and think like a scientist, constantly questioning hypotheses and searching for supporting data. Great for leaders, managers or just about anyone who is willing to approach life with a more open mind.

This review will appear in the May-June issue of Global Business and Organizational Excellence. I will send a copy once it is out of production.

THINK AGAIN by Adam Grant (Originals and Give and Take) is all about "The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know" which is an impactful concept explored by a thoughtful, talented writer. Grant divides this text into three sections: opening our own minds (adopting a kind of mental flexibility); encouraging others to think again; and creating communities of lifelong learners. Grant advocates for adopting a scientific frame of mind where "you're expected to doubt what you know, be curious about what you don't know, and update your views based on new data." I especially like thinking about applying Grant's ideas to the research skills we build with our students. He explores concepts like confirmation bias and desirability bias while also noting that "when we try to convince people to think again, our first instinct is usually to start talking. Yet the most effective way to help others open their minds is often to listen." What would that look like in these polarized times, especially as we try to increase interest and acceptance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19? In some ways, it's as if Grant anticipated this question, with an entire chapter profiling Vaccine Whisperers. Brene Brown described THINK AGAIN as "the right book for right now ... choosing courage over comfort" while Bill and Melinda Gates called it "a must-read for anyone who wants to create a culture of learning and exploration." Including a summary list of Actions for Impact, extensive notes, and a helpful index, THINK AGAIN received a starred review from Library Journal.

I absolutely love the way Adam Grant thinks.
I hope to be able to write about this book for Wharton Magazine.
I did write about Adam and how he was in Simon Sinek's book...
https://magazine.wharton.upenn.edu/digital/treat-your-business-rival-as-inspiration-not-competition/

Adam Grant has a way of making the obvious seem like a brand new concept that has never before been considered. Grant is relatable and his ideas make so much sense. I found myself nodding along as I read, as if I was listening to music. A book that everyone should read.

3.5 Do you make up your mind and stick to it no matter what? Are you unable to handle constructive criticism? Are you so set on doing things one way even when another, often better way can be found? Do you refuse to discuss things with those who don't share your opinions?

This and much more is discussed in this book. Using examples such as the demise of the blackberry and the success of the IPhone to the Wright brothers whose arguments eventually led to problem solving. How someone showing you that you are wrong could be a learning experience and the many who believe this is true. Non confrontational ways to discuss with those whose opinions differ from your own. There is much inside that makes a great deal of sense. Now if I can just practice some of what I learned. Interesting book. Interesting subject especially in our age of misinformation.

ARC from Netgalley.

This new book from organizational psychologist and Wharton professor Adam Grant is all about rethinking, or taking another look at an opinion we held previously, reevaluating it based on new information we may have, and then giving ourselves the space to change our minds.

A lot of us - especially here on the internet have a lot of opinions - sometimes a lot of strong opinions about both important and unimportant things. It’s one of the reasons entering the comments section of any big website can be likened to going to a boxing match. People feel very strongly about their opinions and are willing to fight to defend them.

But, if you’ve seen things like that go down on the internet, you may have noticed that not a lot has been accomplished by the end of one of those disagreements. The best we can hope for is all parties agreeing to disagree - I, personally, have rarely - if ever - seen either side leave the situation with a new perspective. The internet isn’t all to blame for these types of disagreements - it’s simply giving people the platform to have them. The root cause is human psychology - the way we form our opinions- the way we attach them to our identities, and the way they tend to become more deeply rooted when they’re challenged.

These tendencies can really get in the way of our personal and professional growth - just like we would perform routine maintenance on a car or take it to the shop if a major repair is needed, sometimes we need the same tune-ups to the way we see the world, but we can only do that if we allow ourselves to rethink our opinions, especially ones that have long been rusting.

Adam Grant’s stated purpose of this book is to show the reader the value in re-thinking, to encourage the reader to adopt it as a regular practice, and how to persuade others - not necessarily to adopt your opinions, but to follow your lead in questioning yourself.

If you’ve read any of his other books before or read books in this style, then it won’t surprise you to learn that he mixes psychological studies with anecdotes, sometimes personal ones. So Grant starts off the book by giving an example of what can happen to a company if the head of it isn’t willing to rethink their idea of what people want, and isn’t willing to adapt - that company is Blackberry - the company that essentially kicked off the smartphone era. If you haven’t heard of them - that’s kind of the point.

He also breaks down the “modes” we go into when we’re defending our opinions - there’s preacher mode, prosecutor mode, and politician mode, but he argues that you actually want to be thinking like a scientist when you’re looking out at the world. You hold an idea, you’re testing it, but you’re ready and willing to be wrong because you’re not looking to be right, you’re looking for the truth. Branching off of that, there’s a really fun chapter about the joy of being wrong. How if we let ourselves separate our present selves from our past selves, and if we can not have our opinions define our identities, we open ourselves up to learning.

That was one of the chapters I thought was the most meaningful, but there’s a lot of stuff in the back half of the book where he talks about studies of changing opinions and how getting someone to see the other side of a debate is a lot trickier, but also simpler than people may think. A lot of the methods people use, like encouraging a person to put themselves into someone else’s shoes, counterintuitively - has the tendency to reinforce existing beliefs.

Grant highlights methods that have been actually proven to work - I won’t lay them out here, because that’s what the book is there for, but I think what he says makes a ton of sense. It’s all stuff that I’m going to be applying to my own life. I think it’s far too easy for all of us to dig our heels in, but that’s not the kind of person I want to be, so I found that I took a lot of this to heart.

I really like these styles of books that mix a psychology element and a human element - I’ve heard them called pop psychology books before. I’m not a big fan of that label - I think it’s dismissive of a really valuable blend of science and human stories - I think that combination, the ability to see examples really has the ability to drive points home.

I also really like Grant’s writing style and his approach. He’s obviously very knowledgeable, but he’s not condescending, which would be so easy to do in a partially self-help style book like this. He’s actually really willing to apply all of these things to himself. He gives examples of how insufferable he could be in his younger years and how he grew out of certain things. He talks about several different instances of changing his own mind - including one thing he said in his previous book, Originals.

There’s one opinion he held when writing that book - an assertion he makes in the book - that he completely takes back in this book, based on the research he did for this new book. I was really impressed by that. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a published author do that - because once something is out there, in print, it’s kind of out there. But then in his next book, he takes this new subject so seriously, that he’s willing to disagree with himself in print. I think it’s a good example of how this guy really believes in what he studies, so much so that he’s willing to apply it to himself.

I think the only thing I would change is something that would have been totally out of the author’s control, so I can’t fault him for it at all. But the introduction to this book mentions how this idea of rethinking is more important than ever given everything going on in the world, including the virus. But I think when he wrote the intro, we were still in the early phases, because he says something like - it’s important to keep our minds open as we’re learning something new every day about how the virus works and what current restrictions are. And obviously, it immediately felt dated.

That’s part of the reason I already don’t like these introductions that I’m sure authors are being asked to write by their publishers, addressing what’s going on in the world. By the time the book goes to print, the world is an entirely different place. It dates the book and I read enough about the news in the news, I don’t need that in introductions, but I’m sure I’ll be reading a metric ton of them in new nonfiction releases this year.

But a discussion I would love to hear Adam Grant have that ties the concept of this book to the global situation is the way it’s forced people and employers to rethink how they do things. I’ve worked at companies who had such antiquated work-from-home policies because higher ups refused to think of it as anything other than a luxury - when it’s far from that.

I’ve also seen local businesses here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania take very different approaches in handling the pandemic situation. I’ve seen some say - okay, this is our new reality, how do we pivot and make things work? And I’ve seen others who would have been able to pivot, hanging back and waiting for things to go “back to normal.” I think rethinking or a willingness to rethink will be a factor in some businesses making it and others not making - but obviously the ability to do so varies by industry.

The point, though, is that this isn’t just a self-help subject - the idea of re-thinking is applicable just about everywhere where people are and in everything that involves people, so this book is definitely worth reading because it can apply to so many things in our lives.

I think given our current global climate, this is a book everyone should consider picking up. Even if you don’t normally read self-help style books, I think you’d really enjoy Grant’s work.

Following an incredibly dynamic (and outright crummy in a lot of ways) 2020, THINK AGAIN is the book to read. When a person, a community, a nation, or a world faces dynamic and multifaceted wicked problems, it takes a great deal of learning, unlearning, listening, and reframing of ideas. Adam Grant shows the value in staying curious about other opinions and interpretations, and explains through science and engaging stories that learning how to listen to other stances helps formulate and strengthen one's own stance.

I devoured this book. It's a very easy read and has engaging stories of people who were able to successfully "think again" in their respective fields. I was lucky enough to get early access through NetGalley but purchased the book as soon as it became available - I simply had to add it to my library.

A thoughtful argument for unlearning our assumptions and questioning our opinions to better embrace what we don't know with curiosity and humility. Intelligence and learning evolve as we grow into our experiences with an openness to change.