What's the So What? - "Think Again" by Adam Grant

"Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know" by Adam Grant

"What's the So What?" in 100 words

Western culture celebrates brilliant visionaries. Charismatic leaders seemingly omniscient and impervious to doubt. But what if we've got it all wrong? What if intelligence is increasingly the ability to rethink and unlearn? If traditional intelligence actually hinders flexibility of thought? What if humility is actually a marker of confidence? If impostor syndrome causes high performance rather than inhibits it? What if it's more important to get it right than to be right? If we seek out perspectives that make us think hard vs feel good? What if we focus more on improving ourselves than proving ourselves? If we embrace the discomfort of doubt over the comfort of conviction? What if we know what we don't know and Think Again?

Why and when did I read Think Again?

I read it in Feb. 2021, the week after its release, because the subject matter directly connects to one of my two biggest investment areas: 1) how to feel and act more "calm and kind" (see "You're Not Listening" from last edition); and, 2) how to be more open-minded and slower to judgment (this book). Throw in that I've enjoyed Adam's 3 prior books - Originals, Give and Take, & Option B (with Sheryl Sandberg) - and I was eager to read it (and loved it).

Ten “So Whats” that stuck with me

1. Aspire to act like a Scientist vs. a Preacher, Prosecutor or Politician: when we act like a scientist, we seek truth via hypotheses, experiments, and new discovery. When we preach, prosecute, or politic, we're looking to convince others, digging in to "win" vs being curious and open-minded. The best scientists ask themselves "How do you know?" and not only are open to being wrong, they actively seek out discord and disconfirming evidence. Per the author: "If knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom."

2. Higher intelligence and social stature can hinder our ability to rethink & unlearn: cognitive flexibility - the ability to move our position as new evidence arises - is critical. But as we get more senior, our perspectives are more likely to go unquestioned. And being smart may hinder us because "the brighter you are, the harder it can be to see your own limitations. Being good at thinking can make you worse at rethinking."

3. Let's focus more on improving ourselves vs proving ourselves: mimicking the world's best forecasters, whenever we form an opinion we should list the conditions under which we'd change it. The best forecasters take in new data and change their mind twice as frequently as lower performers; how can we follow suit?

4. Our opinions and our identity are not the same: a threat to our worldview can feel like an attack on our identity. If we see our job as something we do rather than as who we are, we'll be more open-minded. And as we look to influence change in others, we should reinforce the elements that will stay the same to reduce the perceived threat to their identity.

5. Confidence can exceed competence, especially in the early stages of learning: the Dunning-Kruger effect suggests "it’s when we lack competence that we’re most likely to be brimming with overconfidence." As we move from novice to amateur we can become overconfident, ascending the aptly titled "Mount Stupid."

6. Could Impostor Syndrome be desirable vs. a disorder: research suggests men overestimate their leadership abilities (armchair quarterback syndrome) while women underestimate theirs (impostor syndrome). And research also shows higher achievers show more vs less impostor syndrome. Could they be succeeding not in spite of their doubts, but driven by their doubts? Perhaps the more often we feel like impostors, the higher our resultant performance will be? Fascinating topic.

7. Confident humility is conviction on the "what" with flexibility on the "how." The sweet spot of confidence is confident humility, where "you can be confident in your ability to achieve a goal in the future while maintaining the humility to question whether you have the right tools in the present." We believe in ourselves and our ability to reach an outcome, but regularly question and improve our methods along the way.

8. Team task conflict is good, relationship conflict is not: relationship conflict (interpersonal strife) leads to poor performance, but task conflict (arguing over specific items) leads to better outcomes. Teams who actively debate the best way forward are more creative and make better decisions, as their diversity of thought prevents overconfidence.

9. Successful debate ideally feels like a dance, not a tug-of-war: the best debaters adapt their movement to their partner. They seek common ground first. They ask more questions and are LESS assertive. And they offer only 1 or 2 main arguments because while "a single line of argument feels like a conversation, multiples lines can become an onslaught."

10. Leaders who model flexibility of thought encourage a culture of feedback: to cultivate curiosity and question existing perspectives, we can highlight what we've gotten wrong or where we've changed our minds based on new evidence. And others will follow.

Quotables

“Learning requires the humility to realize one has something to learn.” Elizabeth Krumei Mancuso (Psychologist)

"Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." George Bernard Shaw (Playwright)

“If you don’t look back at yourself and think, ‘Wow, how stupid I was a year ago,’ then you must not have learned much in the last year.” Ray Dalio (Hedge Fund Luminary)

“Valedictorians aren’t likely to be the future’s visionaries. They typically settle into the system instead of shaking it up." Karen Arnold (Researcher)

“The absence of conflict is not harmony, it’s apathy.” Author quoting a research team

"We favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt, and we let our beliefs get brittle long before our bones. We laugh at people who still use Windows 95, yet we still cling to opinions that we formed in 1995. We listen to views that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard." Author

So what do I think or do differently today?

The biggest change I'm starting to implement is taking the time to think more slowly and deeply. I'm more forcefully asking myself "how do I know?" and searching for reasons I might be wrong vs I might be right.

Another related change is being more comfortable saying "I don't know: I need to think about that more." I've had a lot of practice back to the Bain consulting days giving quick-on-my-feet responses to questions; I think I can give better answers and model better behaviour by more often deferring and answering questions with more depth at a later time.

Finally, I'm intrigued by the idea of reflecting on where my beliefs have changed most in the last year. Ideally, my thinking has evolved in numerous areas, where the item I've been coming back to most recently is the health of the U.S. higher education system. It's not the focus of this piece, of course, but the inequality and unfairness in the system feels like it's reached a point where incremental solutions won't be sufficient. More to come.

Connecting the Dots across What's the So What's

Reflecting on Think Again here and You're Not Listening last time, both highlight western culture's tendency to celebrate and elevate stereotypically male leadership. Leaders who stand on large stages and speak loudly with (often misplaced) conviction. Seemingly impervious to and dismissive of doubt. Instead, both research and the real world show successful leaders listen rather than speak. Are curious and hold weaker, more malleable opinions. Brené Brown, Susan Cain, and many others are leading the charge here, complemented nicely by Kate Murphy and Adam Grant's books.

Both books also suggest traditional intelligence (IQ) is often a liability: we listen poorly because we assume we already know what our partner is going to say and we can't wait to share our own "brilliant" opinion. Or we're so accustomed to acing multiple-choice-style tests that we're slower to adapt our opinions to new evidence because it feels like a threat to our Straight-A identities. To quote Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, whatever our intelligence level, "the learn-it-all does better than the know-it-all," so let's be humble, curious, and committed to improve vs. prove our abilities.

Want to go deeper with the ideas from this book and others?

• To dig in more, here is my full notes and Kindle highlights, here is an awesome Brené Brown podcast with Adam, and here is a great read on a range of Adam's frameworks. I also recommend his prior books, Originals, Give and Take, and, especially, Option B (co-written with Sheryl Sandberg).
• Coming soon I’ll write WTSWs on The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto, Atomic Habits by James Clear, Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. One every 2 weeks.
• Finally, here is a complete list, with ratings, of 600+ books I’ve read. Message me or comment below if there's one you'd suggest for an upcoming "What's the So What?”