Adam Grant, a organizational psychologist, believes we can make better decisions to improve our lives if we take the time to reconsider our choices. Remember the advice when you’re taking at multiple choice test: don’t change your answers! Grant researched that strategy and found that students who did change their answers went from Wrong Answer to Right Answer 70% of the time.
As a consultant, Grant worked for several companies that took his advice and changed their direction…and improved their work atmosphere and profits. Grant points out that smart people can become convinced they’re right about their opinions and choices when a thoughtful reconsideration can produce more accurate results.
Have you reconsidered a recent decision? We’re reconsidering out travel plans for the Fall with the Delta Variant raging. GRADE: B+
Table of Contents:
Prologue 1
Part I Individual Rethinking Updating Our Own Views
1 A Preacher, a Prosecutor, a Politician, and a Scientist Walk into Your Mind 15
2 The Armchair Quarterback and the Impostor: Finding the Sweet Spot of Confidence 33
3 The Joy of Being Wrong: The Thrill of Not Believing Everything You Think 55
4 The Good Fight Club: The Psychology of Constructive Conflict 77
Part II Interpersonal Rethinking Opening Other People’s Minds
5 Dances with Foes: How to Win Debates and Influence People 97
6 Bad Blood on the Diamond: Diminishing Prejudice by Destabilizing Stereotypes 121
7 Vaccine Whisperers and Mild-Mannered Interrogators: How the Right Kind of Listening Motivates People to Change 143
Part III Collective Rethinking Creating Communities of Lifelong Learners
8 Charged Conversations: Depolarizing Our Divided Discussions 163
9 Rewriting the Textbook: Teaching Students to Question Knowledge 185
10 That’s Not the Way We’ve Always Done It: Building Cultures of Learning at Work 205
Part IV Conclusion
11 Escaping Tunnel Vision: Reconsidering Our Best-Laid Career and Life Plans 225
Epilogue 245
Actions for Impact 251
Acknowledgments 259
Notes 265
Illustration Credits 295
Index 297