Book SummaryThink Again, by Adam Grant

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Think Again

You likely believe that precise knowledge is valuable and that maintaining strong beliefs shows integrity. Yet social scientist and Wharton professor Adam Grant disagrees and argues that reconsideration, or the ability to reconsider your views, is much more valuable than knowledge or loyalty to your beliefs.

Grant’s research shows that knowledge and expertise can confine you to narrow ways of thinking that limit your potential. He argues that instead of pursuing expertise, you should practice and pursue reconsideration because it opens new doors of learning and self-awareness. As we will explore in this guide,...

Think Again Summary Part 1: Why Reconsideration Matters

Reconsideration is the ability to question, investigate, and analyze your opinions and beliefs. Grant says that reconsideration is a crucial skill for critical thinking that can apply to many aspects of your life. In this section, we'll explain why reconsideration is so important, why most people don't do it, and how you can engage in it.

(Shortform note: Reconsideration has become an important part of post-Covid recovery for many organizations. Leaders have had to reconsider many assumptions about their business practices, especially assumptions regarding remote work. Before the pandemic, many organizations assumed employees needed to be present in the office to be productive and efficient. Studies have shown, however, that workers can be equally productive when working remotely—convincing many business leaders to reconsider their remote work policies.)

Benefits of Reconsideration

Grant says that there are many benefits to...

Think Again Summary Part 2: Improve Your Ability to Reconsider

We now have the Reconsideration Process as a mental framework to keep top of mind—it helps you slow down and examine what you really know in any situation. In this section, we'll discuss three methods for improving your ability to reconsider:

• Examine your views
• Learn to balance doubt and confidence
• Embrace complexity

Method #1: Examine Your Views

Grant suggests examining your views by assessing what you know, investigating new information, and possibly drawing new conclusions based on your research.

First, reframe your views as hypotheses. This will help you see them as questions to investigate rather than statements of fact.

(Shortform note: Grant’s suggestion to integrate scientific thinking into your everyday life might seem counterintuitive, but psychologist Maria Konnikova (Mastermind) argues that everyone can and should do precisely this. In our personal and professional lives, writes Konnikova, we have the ability to form hypotheses, collect evidence, and use deductive reasoning to pursue truth—no matter your field. She says that the ability to use...

Think Again Summary Part 3: Teach Others to Reconsider Their Views

Now that you have a solid understanding of reconsideration and have learned how to practice it in your own life, you can confidently and competently teach others these skills so they can re-examine their beliefs, engage in open-minded thinking, and learn about new ideas.

In this chapter, we’ll discuss some different opportunities to show others how to practice reconsideration: in educational settings and during disagreements in your personal and professional life.

Teaching Opportunity #1: Education

A vital way to help others apply reconsideration in their lives is to teach the concept in schools and other educational settings. Grant says that when you take on the role of an educator (perhaps as a parent, co-worker, friend, or mentor), it is important to make reconsideration central to how you educate others so they can examine their beliefs and be open to new ideas.

Being an Educator in Everyday Life

While Grant primarily discusses reconsideration in formal educational contexts like schools and universities, there are many ways that you can take on the role of educator in your daily life. In _[Everyone a...

Think Again Summary Part 4: Apply Reconsideration at Work

The third area where Grant suggests you can apply reconsideration is in your workplace. Applying reconsideration in this context creates positive work cultures which prioritize learning and critical thinking over profit and end results. In this section, we’ll explore:

• How to create a psychologically safe environment at work
• How to establish decision-making processes in the workplace that best allow you to apply the principles of reconsideration

Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace

The best way to lay the groundwork for reconsideration in the workplace is to cultivate psychological safety: the sense that you can take risks when interacting with others without fearing negative consequences.

Grant says that ideas go unexpressed when workplaces don’t try to cultivate this sense of safety—people fear the negative consequences of being wrong, so they hesitate to speak up. In such a culture, old ways of doing things go unquestioned because people are stigmatized for challenging them. When this dynamic sets in, the workplace can become wedded to old ideas and processes that clearly aren't working anymore, while new ideas are stifled and ignored—leading the...

Think Again Summary Part 5: Reconsider Your Life Goals

We've now explored how to apply reconsideration in all areas of your life so that you—and the people you teach and work with—can become open-minded thinkers. We have seen how reconsideration helps you reassess your beliefs, and so we can now use this skill to reconsider your beliefs about the paths you should take in your life.

You may have set your sights on a specific goal early on in life, without considering whether or not this goal fits what you want out of life. Parents and teachers often encourage this, but Grant says that when you form your life goals too early, they can become a core part of your identity. As a result, you become resistant to reconsidering your goals because doing so would threaten who you are as a person. Instead, when it occurs to you that you may be on the wrong path, you may feel threatened—you’ll double down and commit to working even harder to achieve your goals. This, of course, only serves to push you even further down an undesirable life path.

(Shortform note: In Range, David Epstein supports Grant’s conclusions about the negative effects of early adoption of goals and argues that...

Shortform Exercise: Rewrite Your Beliefs as Hypotheses

Grant says that to have an open mind, you must treat your opinions and beliefs not as sources of your identity but as hypotheses to be examined. In this exercise, we will explore some of your opinions and beliefs, reframe them as questions or hypotheses, and see how this changes your perspective.

Write down one of your beliefs or opinions. (For example, “I need to be financially successful to have a meaningful life,” or, “My political party is superior.”)