“Think Again by Adam Grant – Book Review
In Think Again, Adam Grant explores how rethinking and questioning our beliefs can lead to better decisions. I was hoping Grant would dig into how reexamining our beliefs as individuals and a society can drive progress. Instead, the book rehashes psychology ideas from other books without digging into any area in depth.
Summary
In three parts, Think Again covers how we benefit from reexamining our own beliefs, helping others reevaluate their beliefs, and collaborating to question organizational beliefs. Grant interweaves examples and stories with recommendations for your own life and work.
The first part, about individual beliefs, explores cognitive biases that warp our perceptions and decisions. Think of the maxim “go with your gut.” When people select an answer on a test and then rethink it, they’re inclined to keep their initial selection because we think we should trust our first instinct. In fact, it’s often better to change answers. Grant’s other examples cover a few biases, like overconfidence, confirmation bias, and sunk cost fallacy. As a solution, Grant recommends the scientific method. Create a hypothesis, then gather facts to prove or disprove it. Think of either outcome as a win because each means learning something new. That way, we can evaluate information and react more objectively.
Next, Grant looks at how to influence others. Stories illustrate how we need to listen to and understand someone’s perspective before seeking to change it. Finally, the third section talks about how groups let go of beliefs and systems that hold them back. Managers can show vulnerability to encourage team members to share authentic feedback. Changing power structures can empower people to speak up when something is wrong.
Review
This was my first Adam Grant book after hearing glowing reviews, and I have to say I was underwhelmed.
Grant attempts to cover three topics (individual, other, and group rethinking) and ends up not covering any of them in depth. The result is a bland rehashing of topics already covered in other books. He even repeats some of the same stories used by other authors as examples.
Grant briefly touches on how we as a society need to do better at sharing and listening to challenging new perspectives. I wish he’d focused there and explored how we can apply these ideas to society and politics. That could have been a compelling book.
Here and there, Grant shares valuable tidbits that reminded me to constantly examine decisions. He closes with a thoughtful list of ways to apply this to your life and work, even including ways to help children practice rethinking. For example, a teacher guided an elementary school class to give a child feedback on a butterfly drawing: “make the wings more pointy,” “make the antenna longer,” and so on. The child strengthened their drawing skills, and the whole class learned about giving and receiving constructive feedback.
Read it or skip it?
Unless you’re a big Grant fan or you’re especially interested in this topic, I’d skip this book. Instead, check these out:
To explore how to reexamine your own beliefs and cognitive biases,
- Thinking Fast and Slow is an excellent book about how we think and one of my favorite nonfiction reads.
- The Art of Thinking Clearly lists 99 cognitive biases and common errors in thinking. It’s dry, covering one bias after another, but I doubt there’s a more thorough list of biases out there.
- The Song of the Cell and other books about scientific research and history can be good ways to learn about the scientific method.
To learn how to help others rethink,
- Nudge looks at how our thinking is fallible and how systems can help or hinder us making good choices. It also probes the limits of how much it’s ok to influence people’s thinking.
- Black Swan explores how we collectively make mistakes in predicting economic events and more. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I remember it being good.
To improve how groups create beliefs and norms,
- Dare to Lead, Daring Greatly, or most books by Brene Brown offer ideas about how vulnerability enables authentic dialogue and strengthens 1:1 or group relationships.
- In The Checklist Manifesto, a surgeon explores how individuals and groups make mistakes and how we can create systems and norms to prevent them.
Still on the fence? I’d try a summary of Think Again, if you have Headspace or another app. I haven’t listened to one, but I bet you’d get a lot of the value of the book in less time.
Rating
- Overall: 2.5 stars – I didn’t find this helpful reading, unless you have a specific interest in the topic
- Audiobook: 3.5 – fine narration but a little stiff
About the author
Adam Grant is a Wharton professor and the author of a few other books, including Give and Take and Originals. He gets rave reviews about his books and other content on motivation and organizational psychology. Even though I didn’t love Think Again, I’m hoping to try another of his books soon.
