Adam Grant

Adam Grant

"If knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom."

Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist and Wharton's top-rated professor, where he studies motivation, generosity, and original thinking. He has written five bestselling books, including Give and Take, Originals, and Think Again, and hosts the chart-topping podcast WorkLife. His TED talks are among the most-watched in the platform's history.

Author of 5 books·Wharton's top-rated professor·Key themes: generosity, rethinking, potential
Think Again Summary & Review: Master the Art of Rethinking — Read SummaryBrowse All Books ↓
Adam Grant

Books by Adam Grant

Our in-depth summaries and reviews of his work

Key Ideas & Recurring Themes

Think Like a Scientist

Treat your opinions as hypotheses to test, not treasures to defend. The best thinkers actively search for reasons they might be wrong instead of reasons they must be right.

Task Conflict, Not Relationship Conflict

Productive disagreement argues about ideas, not people. Teams that debate like scientists — challenging the argument, not the person — make better decisions than teams that avoid conflict altogether.

Confident Humility

Real confidence comes from trusting your capacity to grow, not from certainty that your current beliefs are correct. It lets you hold strong opinions, loosely.

The Rethinking Cycle

We drift between confident and humble, doubtful and curious. Lifelong learners deliberately reintroduce doubt into their thinking even after they've found an answer that works.

Distance traveled

Potential is not the height of the peak you occupy. It is how far you have already climbed, and how steep the next stretch still is.

Otherish giving

Help others and still protect your own aims. Selfless givers land at the bottom; otherish givers land at the top.

Five-minute favors

Small, repeatable help — an intro, a note, a door — compounds without turning you into unpaid staff.

Notable Quotes

"We learn more from people who challenge our thought process than those who affirm our conclusions. Strong leaders engage their critics and make themselves stronger. Weak leaders silence their critics and make themselves weaker."
— Think Again
"We listen to views that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard."
— Think Again
"A mark of lifelong learners is recognizing that they can learn something from everyone they meet."
— Think Again
"Thinking like a scientist involves more than just reacting with an open mind. It means being actively open-minded. It requires searching for reasons why we might be wrong — not for reasons why we must be right — and revising our views based on what we learn."
— Think Again
"How do you know? It's a question we need to ask more often, both of ourselves and of others."
— Think Again
"The true measure of your potential is not the height of the peak you’ve reached, but how far you’ve climbed to get there."
— Hidden Potential
"The most meaningful way to succeed is to help others succeed."
— Give and Take

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Book Author Adam Grant