Think Again Quotes

“You’re expected to doubt what you know, be curious about what you don’t know, and update your views based on new data.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“preacher mode when our sacred beliefs are in jeopardy: we deliver sermons to protect and promote our ideals. We enter prosecutor mode when we recognize flaws in other people’s reasoning: we marshal arguments to prove them”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Whomever we’re educating, we can express more humility, exude more curiosity, and introduce the children in our lives to the infectious joy of discovery. I believe that good teachers introduce new thoughts, but great teachers introduce new ways of thinking.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“I knew the feeling. In college, what first attracted me to social science was reading studies that clashed with my expectations; I couldn’t wait to tell my roommates about all the assumptions I’d been rethinking. In my first independent research project, I tested some predictions of my own, and more than a dozen of my hypotheses turned out to be false.[*] It was a major lesson in intellectual humility, but I wasn’t devastated. I felt an immediate rush of excitement. Discovering I was wrong felt joyful because it meant I’d learned something. As Danny told me, “Being wrong is the only way I feel sure I’ve learned anything.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“it’s not so much changing your answer that improves your score as considering whether you should change it.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“in a turbulent world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Advancing from novice to amateur can break the rethinking cycle. As we gain experience, we lose some of our humility. We take pride in making rapid progress, which promotes a false sense of mastery. That jump-starts an overconfidence cycle, preventing us from doubting what we know and being curious about what we don’t.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“For architecture and engineering lessons, Ron had his students create blueprints for a house. When he required them to do at least four different drafts, other teachers warned him that younger students would become discouraged. Ron disagreed—he had already tested the concept with kindergarteners and first graders in art. Rather than asking them to simply draw a house, he announced, “We’ll be doing four different versions of a drawing of a house.”

Some students didn’t stop there; many wound up deciding to do eight or ten drafts. The students had a support network of classmates cheering them on in their efforts. “Quality means rethinking, reworking, and polishing,” Ron reflects. “They need to feel they will be celebrated, not ridiculed, for going back to the drawing board. . . . They soon began complaining if I didn’t allow them to do more than one version.”
― Adam Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Keep a rethinking scorecard. Don’t evaluate decisions based only on the results; track how thoroughly different options are considered in the process. A bad process with a good outcome is luck. A good process with a bad outcome might be a smart experiment.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Establish psychological safety. In learning cultures, people feel confident that”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Abandon best practices. Best practices suggest that the ideal routines are already in place. If we want people to keep rethinking the way they work, we might be better off adopting process accountability and continually striving for better practices.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Stop asking kids what they want to be when they grow up. They don’t have to define themselves in terms of a career. A single identity can close the door to alternatives. Instead of trying to narrow their options, help them broaden their possibilities. They don’t have to be one thing—they can do many things.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Invite kids to do multiple drafts and seek feedback from others.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Expand your emotional range. You don’t have to eliminate frustration or even indignation to have a productive conversation. You just need to mix in a broader set of emotions along with them—you might try showing some curiosity or even admitting confusion or ambivalence.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Don’t shy away from caveats and contingencies. Acknowledging”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Complexify contentious topics. There are more than two sides to every story.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Have a conversation about the conversation. If emotions are running hot, try redirecting the discussion to the process. Like the expert negotiators who comment on their feelings and test their understanding of the other side’s feelings, you can”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Have a conversation about the conversation. If emotions”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Reinforce freedom of choice.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Remember that less is often more.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Acknowledge common ground. A debate is like a dance, not a war. Admitting”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Ask how people originally formed an opinion. Many”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Ask “What evidence would change your mind?” You”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Question how rather than why.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Don’t shy away from constructive conflict.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Build a challenge network, not just a support network.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Learn something new from each person you meet. Everyone”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Embrace the joy of being wrong.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Harness the benefits of doubt. When you find yourself doubting your ability,”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

“Don’t confuse confidence with competence. The Dunning”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know