Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

There are two powerful reasons to read this book. One: You’ll learn a lot. Two: This book will be mentioned in articles and discussions. It will make the short list of books every manager should read. I bought Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant because I’ve learned a lot from his books, blogs, and articles. I expected the same level of lucid writing and penetrating insight that I got from Originals and Give and Take. For me, this was the best book yet. Think Again is the best book Grant has written for business leaders. That VUCA world we keep hearing about requires flexibility and unlearning. Most of the books I’ve seen on the kind of learning you need for today’s world focus on corporate cultures, on creating “learning institutions.” Think Again is different. Think Again is about the learning culture between your ears. Here’s how Grant states the purpose of the book. “This book is an invitation to let go of knowledge and opinions that are no longer serving you well, and to anchor your sense of self in flexibility rather than consistency. If you can master the art of rethinking, I believe you’ll be better positioned for success at work and happiness in life. Thinking again can help you generate new solutions to old problems and revisit old solutions to new problems. It’s a path to learning more from the people around you and living with fewer regrets. A hallmark of wisdom is knowing when it’s time to abandon some of your most treasured tools—and some of the most cherished parts of your identity.” The first section of the book is about opening your mind. It’s about what “thinking again” really means. The second part of the book looks at ways to encourage others to think again or to think along with you. The third section is about creating communities of lifelong learners. A key to getting the most from this book is the different mindsets that Philip Tetlock discovered. Here’s Grant’s brief description from Think Again. “Two decades ago my colleague Phil Tetlock discovered something peculiar. As we think and talk, we often slip into the mindsets of three different professions: preachers, prosecutors, and politicians. In each of these modes, we take on a particular identity and use a distinct set of tools. We go into 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 wrong and win our case. We shift into politician mode when we’re seeking to win over an audience: we campaign and lobby for the approval of our constituents. The risk is that we become so wrapped up in preaching that we’re right, prosecuting others who are wrong, and politicking for support that we don’t bother to rethink our own views.” Grant uses Tetlock’s terms for the different mindsets. I found digging around on the web and in the scholarly literature for more on the mindsets helped me squeeze even more value from this book. This is not a book where you can skip around and get much value. The description of thinking in the first section sets up later lessons and insights. The second section builds on the first and applies the lessons to debate and persuasion. The third section builds on the first two. It extends the basic mindset idea to groups. Suggestion. As a warmup for Think Again, take a minute to read a Farnam Street blog post: "Jeff Bezos on Why People that Are Often Right Change Their Minds Often." In A Nutshell Think Again is an excellent book that will give you techniques you can use to think more effectively at work and everywhere else. You’ll get more from the book if you do a little bit of homework. Learn about Tetlock’s mindsets and the general idea of changing your mind as a way of thinking.

I've always been fascinated with understanding how people make decisions individually and collectively (including me! I'm my own little lab petri dish of thoughts!). So I was intrigued with Adam Grant's latest book: Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know as less-than-stellar decisions occur because of this "blind spot" - especially in this volatile and uncertain world. Although Grant is an academic (teaches at Wharton), the book is easy to read - but a little harder to digest. Written in a conversational tone, the ideas are presented in a clear manner with examples, research, experiments, and stories. The harder part is to do the work and look in the mirror to see if and when we are on "Mount Stupid". (Although he doesn't really challenge you until hardback page 250 with a summary of "Actions for Impact". ) So what are some of the ideas that resonated with me? - The Dunning-Kruger Effect. It's when we lack competence that we're most likely to be brimming with overconfidence. Unless you're a complete novice, you'll overrate your abilities. - Mount Stupid is the point where you have just enough information to feel self-assured about making pronouncements and passing judgment (I have been there many times...). - Do What Forecasters Do. When forecasters form an opinion, they ask what would have to happen to prove it false? They then keep track of their views so they can see when they were right, wrong, and how their thinking has evolved. - The Value of a Challenge Network. "Across a range of networks, when employees received tough feedback from colleagues, their default response was to avoid those coworkers or drop them from their networks altogether - and their performance suffered over the following year." Counter this tendency by creating a safe space to get feedback. - Debate vs Dispute. "Simply framing a dispute as a debate rather than as a disagreement signals that you're receptive to considering dissenting opinions and changing your mind, which in turn motivates the other person to share more information with you. - Be a Fact-Checker - "(1) Interrogate information instead of simply consuming it. (2) Reject rank and popularity as a proxy for reliability and (3) Understand that the sender of information is often not its source. - How to Question the Expert - To question them in a way that is not embarrassing to them or makes them look like a fool, ask these questions with a sense of curiosity: "What leads you to that assumption? Why do you think t is correct? What might happen if it's wrong? What are the uncertainties in your analysis? I understand the advantages of your recommendation. What are the disadvantages? And that's just the tip of the iceberg! So much great information, I am going to go back through the book with Actions for Impact in hand!

I liked this book but didn’t LOVE it. Lots of interesting facts and stories were good for engagement. I am someone who needs to learn to rethink so I’m glad I read it.

​Adam Grant argues that in a world that’s changing faster than ever, the most important skill isn't intelligence—it’s rethinking. It’s a masterclass on how to stay open-minded, let go of "best practices" that no longer work, and embrace the joy of being wrong.

SOLID! The book arrived in perfect condition, and I believe it got here even earlier than expected! Thank you! 🙏

The book looked like it was used before extremely dirty, put me off

It is amazing book , concept and it is really well written- The art of question what we already know is intriguing and also exiting

Love how this books makes us aware of our own self-serving bias. If you are planning to find out how to lead better, interact better or just learn better, then this is the book for you

I liked it a lot, I liked the style of author's writing and he also provided many examples and stories that actually help readers to understand and remember the content of the book for quite some time. It changed the way that you think about conflicts and helps you to have better constructive conversation with friends that have different opinions, You will be more welcoming to change your own mind and be aware of the biases that you might have.

If we ask any person in the world to look back into the past & question if they have any regrets of having not done,or doing a thing wrongly,or missed opportunities of better growth in their life and so on, then it's no surprise, if we hear almost 100% of the people having regretting the way they did or felt that,if only they have put some more thought and done differently.They wished that they should have paused for a moment or for some time,to think differently or have done in a better way."Think Again" by Adam Grant is a book about taking time to "Rethink"..He says that or rather puts his point of view in front of us in a scientific manner telling us why "Rethinking " is necessary.The writer very vividly categorized our reactions or thinking in four differnt ways i.e preaching, prosecuting, politicking and viewing scientifically.With his rich experience as an organizational psychalogist at Wharton,extensive research,quoting examples of the notable people who failed miserably by not rethinking at the right time and the ones who succeeded extensively by constantly rethinking,has put forth his sincere views in the book with an intent to bring the readers closer to 'reasoning and more reasoning,' and not to miss the chances of "Rethinking" on a day to day basis.To be honest, for the first time,I felt that as to why I should write a review at all(as usually I do after reading a book)? Perhaps it may be because I wanted to satisfy my ego, or I wish to say something about the book like a few of the other readers do after reading a book, to feel good.Well I am not sure,but here, I am writing this review feeling happy,though to write a review on a book of this kind is far different than writing on a fictional one. I like to say that here is a book that should be read by every reader who holds interest in reading, not to promote Adam Grant but for the feel good factor for themselves and about their surroundings.Reading this book,we realize that we spend days,months,years and perhaps even decades in orthodox thinking,blind beliefs and unproductive living based on which our actions,discriminations,accusations, overthinking, jugements etc depend, without a thought or concern for the actual facts or truth,bringing misery to ourselves as well as to the people around us.We also understand that no product, experience, event etc can be considered as an ideal or ultimate and that there is always a room for improvement and the best way is always to act and think scientifically.The mention of famous personalities and how they were able to remain at the top for long, while others couldn't do so, was well illustrated with the examples like that of ' Mike Lazaridis and Black Berry(mobile phone)',the forcasting & predictions of 'Jeane Pierre vs Kjirste Morrell,the humbling British physicist Andrew Lyne(admiiting his wrong in front of a large audience),the success story of Wright brothers, Brad Bird and his failures before he won Oscar awards,the debates between Harish Natarajan vs Debra, Daryl Davis the black piano player vs a white supermacist,the innovative educator Ron Berger (*Even I wished that I should have been a student of him) and many more such real life stories of rise and fall makes the book intresting and the reading authentic.After reading the book I could find a few of the complexities with in me too which I was holding for long and realize that I too am happy for being wrong as it means that, I have come a little closer to being right.This is a book with most page markers that I have ever read.