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!

Good book. Has a lot of examples. Long chapters

It's mind blowing how many things "we think" are quite possibly incorrect, misunderstood, or no longer serving us because something has changed in society, culture, or our lives. Yet, we keep on thinking these things and taking them as facts set in stone and never consider rethinking them. This book weaves stories, science, and powerful examples into an awesome listen (or read) in order to help you "rethink" ideas in your life that might be holding you back. Adam Grant does an effective job of making this topic approachable and doable by sharing powerful stories and examples of where our thinking might benefit from rethinking. He goes into the science of why this is the case and does it in a way that makes it engaging and understandable. Plus he shares proven strategies for applying this to our lives and work. Pay close attention to the chapter on Motivational Interviewing. He also does a great job of writing this book in a way that makes it very readable for audiobook version - meaning that it is a great listen as well. Not all books translate well to audiobooks, but this book absolutely does! In my case, I started with the audiobook and listened to it twice and then bought the hard cover book so that I can mark it up and borrow ideas for my own work. Make this book your next read!

Just having this book is opening my mind. I embracing the whole idea of questioning my beliefs. This is definitely a book for the challenges of 2025. Great encouragement for all business owners. I wish I had this book when I owned my pet grooming business. Thank you, Adam Grant.

Loved the book, another hit by Adam. Makes you humble and eager to learn more.

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.