Think Again by Adam Grant

🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

1. Think like a scientist
2. Be open to different alternatives
3. Approach life and problems through questions

🎨 Impressions

Very good book with a lot of practical learnings. Mostly on the field of persuading others, and approaching problems from a different perspective. As well as topics that one thinks are completely and uncontroversially truth.

How I Discovered It

Angela Duckworth talks about Adam Grant in her podcast, No stupid questions. And mentioned how Adam is a great researcher and that his book is great. It sparked my curiosity that she was so impressed by him and his work, given how good she is herself, I decided to give it a go.

Who Should Read It?

Anyone interested in Psychology, Science of persuasion and/or management.

☘️ How the Book Changed Me

• Continue to rethink the things I give for granted
• Remember to be humble. I don’t know as much as I think I do
• Approach problems with questions, as kid who’s learning about the world and it’s fundamentals
  • Take this approach in your interaction with others

✍️ My Top 3 Quotes

• Dunning-Kruger Effect → we think we know more than we actually do in topics we know little about
• Think like a scientist
• “The thrill of being wrong” or how to enjoy the endless journey of discovery and learning

📒 Summary + Notes

I listened to this book on audible at the same time that I was reading the invention of Nature by Anrea Wulf. Alexander von Humboldt’s biography. And it is just amazing to see how the joy of discovery and learning can be so fulfilling to people. And how identified I felt with it. This book is all about the importance of having mental flexibility to see things in a different perspective, and to rethink the conclusions that we have made, in a manner that will ultimately makes us better and learn more. It was a breeze to listen to this book and learn about different strategies on to how one can think again, how to be more persuasive with others and also in groups. Tumbling down stereotypes can be a result of an open conversation where you are genuinely interested in understanding the other person’s perspective, and going through the flaws of their logic with them from a understanding perspective. It really reminds me of another American psychologist who talked about unconditional positive openness: Carl Rogers.

🎙️ Chapter 5: How to win debates and influence people

“Changing your mind means you’re open to learning”

• No adversarial approach
• Collaborative approach. Humility and curiosity. Invite others to think like scientists → might be better
• Formal debate → Change the mind of your audience
• Informal debate → Change the mind of your covnersation partner. Negotiation to reach an agreement about the truth
• Psychology of negotiations
• A good debate is not a war. “Is more like a dance, with a partner who has a different set of steps in mind”
• Expert negotiators:
  1. Present fewer reasons to support their case
  • “Not to dilute their stronger points”
  • →The more arguments you bring in to the table, the easier it is to discard the shakiest one.
    • “If they reject one justification, they can easily discard the entire case”
  1. Express curiosity in the others argument and look for common ground.
  2. Questions, to understand them better
  3. Right motives to make a good point
• Ideal number of reasons depends on:
  • How much they care about the issue
    • The more the topic matters, the more the quality of reasons matter
  • How open they are to our particular argument
  • How strong will they are in general

1. Point out there are areas of agreement and acknowledge there are valid points. → Model confident humility and encourage to follow suit
2. Support our argument with a small number of cohesive compelling reasons → encourage them to start doubting their own opinion
3. Ask genuine questions → intrigue to learn more

We don’t need to show them we’re right. We need to spark their curiosity to consider the possibility that they might be wrong. And their natural curiosity will do the rest.

These steps are not always enough though. → Adam brings an example of a wall street firm he worked with “I’ve never seen a smart group of people act so dumb”

• Better to start with common ground, and fewer data points
  • What would open your mind to consider this data?
  • “What evidence would change your mind”
• Conversation about the conversation. Tranquility is a sign of strength
• Expert negotiators are more likely to comment on the way they’re feeling about the process and test their understanding of the other sides feelings
  • “I’m dissapointed by the way this conversation is unfolding, are you satisfied with it?”
  • “I was hoping you see this proposal as fair, do I understand correctly you don’t see any merit to this approach at all?”
• → Step aside and focus on how to handle the debate more effectively
• → People react better to moderate confidence
  1. Establish the drawbacks of the case
  2. Establish 3-5 strong reasons going forward
• Example about a woman applying for a job in product management
  • Rather than hide the shortcomings, she started with them. And then list reasons that make it anyway
  • Emphasasing a number of core strengths
• Ask questions. Invite the audience to think with yourself