Adam Grant is a popular American science author.
Adam is also an organizational psychologist. Adam Grant's books are New York Times best sellers.
Adam's books include 'Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success (2013)', 'Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World (2016)', 'Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy' (2017; with Sheryl Sandberg)', 'Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know (2021)'. Through his books, Adam explores the science of generosity, original thinking, motivation, and rethinking.
'Measure success by what you did to the people around you' is what he believes in.
Adam Grant Quotes from his books
Here we abide you through some of the numerous amazing quotes by Adam Grant in his books.
“This is what I find most magnetic about successful givers: they get to the top without cutting others down, finding ways of expanding the pie that benefit themselves and the people around them.”
― Adam Grant., Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success
“Conviction in our ideas is dangerous not only because it leaves us vulnerable to false positives, but also because it stops us from generating the requisite variety to reach our creative potential.”
― Adam Grant, Originals: How Non-conformists Change the World
“After spending decades studying how people deal with setbacks, psychologist Martin Seligman found that three P's can stunt recovery: (1) personalization - the belief that we are at fault; (2) pervasiveness - the belief that an event will affect all areas of our life; and (3) permanence - the belief that the aftershocks of the event will last forever.”
― Adam Grant, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy
“Argue like you’re right and listen like you’re wrong.”
― Adam M. Grant, Originals: How Nonconformists Move the World
“Procrastination may be the enemy of productivity, but it can be a resource for creativity.”
― Adam M. Grant, Originals: How Nonconformists Move the World
“We learn more from people who challenge our thought process than those who affirm our conclusions. Strong leaders engage their critics and make themselves stronger. Weak leaders silence their critics and make themselves weaker. ”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
“Thinking like a scientist involves more than just reacting with an open mind. It requires searching for reasons why we might be wrong—not for reasons why we must be right—and revising our views based on what we learn.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
“Research reveals that the higher you score on an IQ test, the more likely you are to fall for stereotypes because you’re faster at recognizing patterns. And recent experiments suggest that the smarter you are, the more you might struggle to update your beliefs.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
“Questioning ourselves makes the world more unpredictable. Reconsidering something we believe deeply can threaten our identities, making it feel as if we’re losing a part of ourselves.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
“The less intelligent we are in a particular domain, the more we seem to overestimate our actual intelligence in that domain.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
“While humility is a permeable filter that absorbs life experience and converts it into knowledge and wisdom, arrogance is a rubber shield that life experience simply bounces off of.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
Other quotes by Adam Grant
Check out some of his other quotes
(Discover some amazing quotes by the popular American science author, Adam Grant.)
"For years, I believed that anything worth doing was worth doing early. In graduate school, I submitted my dissertation two years in advance. In college, I wrote my papers weeks early and finished my thesis four months before the due date. My roommates joked that I had a productive form of obsessive-compulsive disorder."
"I'm a precrastinator. Yes, that's an actual term. You know that panic you feel a few hours before a big deadline when you haven't done anything yet? I just feel that a few months ahead of time."
"We all have original ideas. Even if we don't see ourselves as super creative or as wild nonconformists, we have insights every day about how the world around us could be better."
"Dissenting opinions are useful, even when they are wrong."
“ If we create networkswith the sole intention of getting something, we won't succeed. We can't pursue the benefits of networks; the benefits ensue from investments in meaningful activities and relationships. ”
“People tend to have one of three 'styles' of interaction. There are takers, who are always trying to serve themselves; matchers, who are always trying to get an equal benefitfor themselves and others; and givers, who are always trying to help people.”
“Originality brings more bumps in the road, yet it leaves us with more happiness and a greater sense of meaning.”
"Evidence shows that in learning cultures, organizations innovate more and make fewer mistakes."
"The more I help out, the more successful I become. But I measure success in what it has done for the people around me. That is the real accolade."
"We don't know how time and circumstances will change what we want and even who we want to be, and locking our life GPS onto a single target can give us the right directions to the wrong destination."
"Having a sense of security in one realm gives us the freedom to be original in another. By covering our bases financially, we escape the pressure to publish half-baked books, sell shoddy art, or launch untested businesses."
"Our identities are open systems, and so are our lives."
"To generate creative ideas, it's important to start from an unusual place. But to explain those ideas, they have to be connected to something familiar."
“ Givers reject the notion that interdependence is weak. Givers are more likely to see interdependence as a source of strength, a way to harness the skills of multiple people for the greater good. ”
"Once we hear the story and accept it as true, we rarely bother to question it."
“I think of productivity as using your time to accomplish things of value to you and others.”
“If we want to forecast whether the originators of a novel idea will be successful, we need to look beyond the enthusiasm they express about their ideas and focus on the enthusiasm for execution that they reveal through their actions.”
"If we want a better original idea, we must generate our own before we screen others’ suggestions."
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
Adam Grant Quotes About Leadership
What is leadership according to Adam Grant.? Know it through some of his quotes.
“Complex problems like pandemics, climate change, and political polarisation call on us to stay mentally flexible."
“We live in a rapidly changing world, where we need to spend as much time rethinking as we do thinking."
“My favourite bias is the ‘I’m not biased’ bias, in which people believe they’re more objective than others.”
"What distinguishes the greatest leaders of our time, it's that success is very rarely a goal for them; it’s a byproduct of other goals that they have.”
"Your 'should self' puts the alarm clock across the room at night so your 'want self' can’t reach the snooze button in the morning."
"No one wants to hear everything that’s in your head. They just want you to live up to what comes out of your mouth."
“When you’re dealing with an ambivalent relationship, you’re constantly on guard, grappling with questions of trust.”
“Rather than looking outward in an attempt to predict the outcome, you turn inward to your identity. You base the decision on who you are – or who you want to be.”
"Strong leaders engage their critics and make themselves stronger. Weak leaders silence their critics and make themselves weaker."
"A good debate is not a war. It’s not even a tug-of-war… it’s more like a dance that hasn’t been choreographed."
"For startups, there’s so much pivoting that’s required that if you have a bunch of sheep, you’re in bad shape."
"The most effective leaders score high in both confidence AND humility."
Adam Grant Quotes for Success
Success in the point of view of Adam Grant.
"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."
"Focusing on results might be good for short-term performance, but it can be an obstacle to long-term learning."
"It’s ironic that when you go through a tragedy, you appreciate more. You realize how fragile life is and that there are so many things to still be thankful for."
"To get real diversity of thought, you need to find the people who genuinely hold different views and invite them into the conversation."
"If you want your children to bring original ideas into the world, you need to let them pursue their passions, not yours."
“Focus attention and energy on making a difference in the lives of others, and success might follow as a by-product.”
“Every time we interact with another person at work, we have a choice to make: do we try to claim as much value as we can, or contribute value without worrying about what we receive in return?”
“When you put off a task, you buy yourself time to engage in divergent thinking rather than foreclosing on one particular idea...”
“If we communicate the vision behind our ideas, the purpose guiding our products, people will flock to us.”
“And they act in the face of risk because their fear of not succeeding exceeds their fear of failing.”
“Success doesn’t measure a human being, effort does.”
― Adam M. Grant, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success
"Highly successful people have three things in common: motivation, ability, and opportunity."
"Changing your mind doesn’t make you a flip-flopper or a hypocrite. It means you were open to learning."
Adam Grant Quotes on Procrastination
"Procrastination gives you time to consider divergent ideas, to think in nonlinear ways, to make unexpected leaps."
"When you procrastinate, you’re more likely to let your mind wander. That gives you a better chance of stumbling onto the unusual and spotting unexpected patterns."
"Procrastinate strategically… Procrastination may be the enemy of productivity but it can be a valuable resource for creativity."
Adam Grant Short Quotes
“Don't criticize yourself while you're creating.”
"Arrogance leaves us blind to our weaknesses."
“It’s never too late to become original.”
"Everyone knows more than you about something."
"There’s a wealth of evidence that people want to do meaningful work."
"Passions are developed, not just discovered."
"Our identities are open systems, and so are our lives."
"Conformity is dangerous."
"Stop asking kids what they want to be when they grow up."
"Enemies make better allies than frenemies."
"It takes confident humility to admit that we're in a work in progress."
