A boy named Sam lived in a small village. During his schooling, Sam struggled with traditional education. He could never be comfortable in the classroom, so he had to work harder to pass any exam.
Even then, his marks would have been minimum. Somehow he passed school and college. After that, he struggled there when he went to the job. But he understood that he would have to rework his thinking, approach, and everything.
Any old rules will not work as per “Think Again”. To get new results, something new has to be done. And he started growing with this approach. Forgetting all the old patterns, he started learning new things. He started working on his strength. He began observing people, that a successful person is becoming successful by doing all these things. He realized that his learning style was efficient.
He was able to do things better by doing them. It was slow but very effective. And slowly, he went on achieving success. He got the Best Employee Award for his company in the first year. And all this happened because he understood that it is essential to rethink the times and to change your old learning and thinking.
Today, Sam is one of the top leaders of a multinational company, where he inspires people to be innovative and teaches about strategies to work on new methods.
Introduction
So friends, today we will talk about a book through which you will understand the power of rethinking; the name of this book is “Think Again”, written by Adam Grant. On what basis do you generally form your opinion based on what you have read or heard? But have you ever thought that this opinion could also be one-sided, that is, some thoughts can influence you?
When we get more influence than necessary, we stop differentiating between right and wrong and begin accepting our opinion of our power as correct. But being intelligent, it is essential to distinguish between right and wrong.
So it starts with the skill of rethinking. When you are sure that you do not know the whole world, knowledge and there is still a lot to learn. Many people consider their old beliefs to be correct. However, those beliefs were right then; with the changing times, many things are no longer helpful according to today’s view, so to get the correct result, looking at things from a new perspective or new ways becomes necessary.
Those who don’t do this find it difficult to reach the truth while holding on to their old beliefs, and those who do adjust to them with the times by being willing to rethink they at least not as unhappy as others.
Therefore, instead of unthinkingly accepting things, understanding things with an open mind would benefit many.
Recognizing that we only know a fraction of the world’s fundamental knowledge and that even among what we know, there are only a few things we can be sure about motivating us to take a new perspective.
So what is rethinking, and how does it work? How you can leave the old unnecessary beliefs and adopt new helpful ideas and convince the people around you of your opinion, and how you can always motivate the staff in your workplace to adopt a learning mindset will learn in this summary.
If you want to develop a learning environment in your home or company or become a leader, this summary will be helpful for you.
To understand the book well, we will discuss its four important sections one by one, and at the end of the summary, I will repeat the book’s key points once so that it is easy to remember. So read the summary till the end. So let’s start.
Chapter 1: A Preacher, Prosecutor, Politician, Scientist, And Our Mind
The speed of accessing information is also increasing with the increase in technology. Researchers have received more information in the medical sector next seven years from 2010 than from 1950 to 50 years. Today there is a lot of information all around; compared to earlier, we can get any information quickly in the blink of an eye.
It means we should be aware of our beliefs based on data. It doesn’t matter how high your IQ level is; if you are not motivated to change your belief, you can miss many opportunities for rethinking “Think Again.”
Until decades ago, Pluto was considered a planet like Jupiter, Mercury, or Venus. However, in recent research, scientists have found that Pluto is not a part of the solar system.
To prove it, The researchers went on for many years, and now it has been accepted based on the data found in the study; by following this new belief, new perspectives of seeing things will be created, and many new ways will be made.
Generally, when we doubt anything, we try to confirm its truth through other sources; if the doctor tells us something about us, we often consult another doctor to ensure. Still, if it is about our opinion, we ignore it; in such a situation, it becomes difficult for us to accept our opinion as wrong, and it is easy to find it suitable.
The author found in his research that we think like preachers, prosecutors, politicians, and Scientists and make decisions by being influenced by them.
In the preacher’s mindset, we feel that the person in front is challenging our beliefs. Thinking from the prosecutor’s mindset, we feel that we are right and the other person is wrong, and in Politician’s mindset, we try to convince people from our point of view in “Think Again”.
The problem with all these three mindsets is that you try to live only in your belief, even if it is wrong, or you start making decisions without thinking about influencing others; there are better ways to make the right decision. So, to avoid this mindset, we need to adopt a scientific perspective.
Make decisions based on information and data like a scientist. Make a habit of looking at things realistically like a scientist and collect as much information as possible. Scientists never try to prove things based on their beliefs; they always try to establish what is right based on evidence. That is, they make decisions based on information.
People often think that being intelligent means always making the right decisions, but it is not. You must be ready to change your mindset according to the situation to make the right decision. It has been found in research that those whose IQ level is high have more difficulty in making such changes.
Because they know a lot about their present belief, they do not like even a slight change in their faith according to the changing circumstances, and it makes them insecure about their intelligence; in such a situation, it is difficult to believe that they are wrong even if Why not put the evidence in front of them. In such a situation, try to understand things by being open-minded.
Chapter 2: Interpersonal Rethinking
When we hear good news about our beliefs, we often feel happy about our point of view and get inspired to learn more about it, but when we hear bad words about that belief or opinion, we get upset. Get stuck in doubt; at the same time, rethinking is needed.
So by opening your mind, recognize the unnecessary belief and inspire yourself to think about it again. Although it is sometimes okay to doubt your thoughts, the authors call this, Imposter syndrome. Such a feeling prevents us from being like others and makes us question our beliefs.
Some researchers have found that more than half of the people around us become impostors regarding careers or any other thing in life, no matter how much success they have achieved. Imposter syndrome is beneficial in many ways, such as this feeling motivates us to work hard to prove our beliefs right and opens the mind for rethinking. In addition, impostor thoughts encourage us to do work smartly.
Research on more than 1 lakh people found that women underestimate leadership skills, and men overestimate them.
This happens because both have different beliefs regarding leadership. That’s why when there is a conversation between the two on such issues, they consider one party wholly right and the other completely wrong.
Your objective in the formal discussion is to change the mind of the audience sitting in front of the debated topic, that is, to convince them to consider your opinion.
Remember, people already have some idea about any one thing. In such an informal debate, the speaker tries to convince the audience with his belief.
Such people consider debating a discussion in which the opinion of one party is considered entirely correct while that of the other is completely wrong.
As an expert thinker, your aim should be to make your partner aware of the truth of your point of view. In this, you motivate them to think about your opinion by being open-minded, rather than try to defeat or show them down by giving many reasons, it may make them feel bad and will not be open-minded to listen to your opinion.
Remember, if the person in front is not open-minded, he will not pay attention to your words because you are convincing them by challenging their present beliefs to think again about their ideas that they are wrong, and they should accept your correct belief. The author says to look at a debate like a dance. In dance, if you try to control or lead your partner, then dance can be wrong, so you aim to match moments with them so that both of you can perform well by matching rhythm.
Let us look at this example: a nonprofessional negotiator and an expert negotiator had to fix a deal. Researchers studied the methods of dealing with both and found that non-professional negotiators were trying to convince people by giving them many reasons; they were providing many reasons to prove their points right in “Think Again”.
On the other hand, the experts were dealing differently and needed to provide more reasons. When you give reasons to prove your point exactly, unknowingly, you give the audience many reasons to disagree with your point of view.
Once the audience gets the fact to differ, it is easy to disagree with the rest. It seems to happen, and in the end, he may not agree with you, or the discussion may become an argument.
Expert negotiators do not do this; they try to open the audience’s mind. Their goal is not to dominate the audience with their opinion but to inspire them to think about their idea by asking questions.
They collect information by asking questions from the audience, and on this basis, they try to take the conversation to such a point where both parties agree and benefit from both.
This behavior shows that you are open-minded and ready to listen and understand the other person’s point of view. When the person in front feels that you are interested in understanding their idea, they will also take an interest in understanding your point of view. They will be ready to change their mind from your opinion.
This will not make you look like a Preacher, Prosecutor, or Politician who wants to prove themselves right and others wrong but like someone who wants to reach the truth.
This makes you a more trustworthy person in the eyes of the audience. It has been found in research that such people are taken positively.
Along with this, being open-minded is also beneficial for professional growth. Human resource departments prefer to hire employees who know their limitations and qualities because they are ready to learn and improve.
Chapter 3: Collective Rethinking
Have you ever been caught in this type of argument, like climate change or political opinion? Then you must have noticed that people get emotional very quickly.
Hearing a different view, we do not want to listen to people; even before their point is completed, we believe that we are right and the other person needs to be corrected. And all the problems start from here, leading to conflict between two people with opposite opinions. People of this mindset believe things can be right or wrong in “Think Again”.
For example, take the issue of abortion. Looking at family planning, some people appreciate it as intelligent work. At the same time, in some social groups, those who do this are seen as antiabortion, who do not have emotions, and they get their child aborted for their purpose.
In such a situation, people who prioritize family planning can consider abortion to be correct, and antiabortion mindset people wrong. In contrast, abortion-supported people can think to do is not abortion right and do abortion is wrong.
But doing so will only increase the conflicts between the two. So its solution is understanding that the same thing can have different aspects. For example, in the case of abortion, if someone has got newly married, then abortion would not be a good idea for them, and after two babies, if you do not want 3rd baby, then abortion would be the best option. Its solution lies in understanding that there can be more than one point of view on any one topic.
Everything does not have a yes or no answer, we need to consider many things before making a final decision, and many aspects of the topic have to be considered; this flexible mindset will make you feel humble in the eyes of people, and this habit shows you such a person who is ready to honestly accept that they do not know some things about the topic or have never noticed them before and are now prepared to learn.
Research related to this was conducted in a lab in New York, where two people with different opinions about abortion were asked to talk for 20 minutes, and at the end, both can be agreed or agreed with each other’s point of view.
After that, this research was conducted in the group. The researchers found that, initially, both groups completely disagreed with each other’s opinion. Still, after understanding each other’s statement with an open mind, they concluded that it might be different for survival.
Therefore, where the population is less, to balance it, the birth rate should be increased, and abortion should be reduced, and where the population is high, there is no harm in getting abortions done to control it.
The author has found in his organizational experience that the habit of rethinking can be quickly developed in organizations and companies with a strong learning culture.
Because in such an office culture, people know the limits of their knowledge; they know that there are many things they do not know, so it becomes easy to be open-minded. Such people also have more desire to learn and try new things.
Let’s see in this example how a person’s life was saved due to not rethinking.
Some astronauts went into space in a space program at NASA. Astronaut Adam and his friends were doing a space walk when Adam felt some leakage behind the neck. The leakage was so much that it could not be sweating, so Adam immediately gave its information to the space crew.
The space crew asked them to come inside the spaceship. After reaching the safe spaceship, they discovered that Adam’s drink bag had started leaking; a drink bag is a type of waterbag tied on the back of astronauts to help astronauts stay hydrated.
However, Adam had felt some leakage before going on the spacewalk, but Adam got overconfident and ignored it, considering it small. He was saved by changing the drink bag after reaching the spaceship in time. Otherwise, his life could have been lost.
Like previous mistakes, NASA learned a lesson from this, being more intelligent or living among smart people, we often become victims of overconfidence and ignore those things as minor, which may be necessary, so we constantly rethink. It would help if you kept doing it. Your staff should be encouraged to keep reviewing their work, keep improving it, and also try to see the result from the perspective of others.
To encourage people to rethink even your company’s work culture, inspire them to keep learning new things about their work, keep exploring and reviewing their work like NASA, keep improving, and Also try to see the result from the point of view of others. This habit can apply to anything. You can also adopt it in your personal life.
For example, take the example of a project presentation. You must have noticed that while giving a presentation, priority is always given to adopting the best method ever. People do this because a good presentation has been shown in that way before, so it is a test-and-try method.
Although it is okay to work with this mindset for the short term because you are following the best way and getting good results in return. It would help if you also rethought what improvements can be made and how they can be made simpler and more functional.
By rethinking, your company will change itself according to the needs of the changing market and will survive in the market. But, by not rethinking, your present methods may give excellent results, but they will not be helpful in the future.
Therefore, trying that your company allows employees to learn new things and innovate. It provides them with the necessary resources to think creatively and innovate new things instead of just asking them to work based on results.
Chapter 4: Escaping The Suncoast
Many of us grow up with only one plan. Perhaps you, too, must have thought since childhood that you want to become an engineer when you grow up, and then all academic planning is done according to this goal, but what if this plan fails?
So what will be your next step? What would you do? What if something unexpected happens? People of such a mindset never consider it necessary to rethink their plans. They decide on a goal, make a strategy for it, and then keep moving forward, keeping that in mind.
When a system fails, we try more but keep our approach the same strategy in such a situation. You should always have a plan B to deal with such a condition.
This method is essential for entrepreneurs. When researchers researched why people do not adopt plan B and stick to the same strategy despite failure, the reason is the Suncoast factor.
It means to keep on doing something over and over again, even though it is wrong. This also happens because you have invested much of your money, time, and resources in that plan, so we try to do everything to prove ourselves right.
In such a situation, even if the evidence proves your strategy wrong, you work hard to prove it right.
Often we find it easy to make a straight decision. Like in the 11th standard, you take commerce, thinking you will do business. But later, you find that accounting is boring, so many people are sad here, but you should believe that you can do your business in sales or financial management instead of accounting.
Always keep your mind open for new possibilities; this habit will help you a lot in your growth. But unfortunately, most people do not give themselves a chance to rethink their choices. By rethinking, you will find that the work you wanted to do years ago may want to do something other than today. Don’t let Suncoast drive you into doing something you don’t enjoy.
Many students need help to do this. The career they had seen at 18 plans according to it the present, and after eight years of work, they get badly bored with their job. Its solution is to keep other career options and possibilities in mind. Don’t be afraid to give up on something and try something new.
This is true to a great extent for career choice. Many times later, you know you do not like your work and are good at other things. In such a situation, leaving the strategy that is not working, adopt a new method; even if you need to change your present job, you can change it.
The author says that although having a plan and a goal is good, sometimes it helps us move towards our vision, but being committed to only one project and not thinking about other options can get you in trouble.
That’s why always keep the second plan in your mind. Rethinking can improve your career and essential aspects of your relationships, health, and life. So keep your mind open to this.
Do this once a month for career rethinking:
- Notice the people from whom you inspire and observe what they do in their day-to-day life.
- Notice their living, behaving, and working styles and see how much they match your interests, skills, methods, and values.
- Keep testing yourself from time to time. For this, give an interview for testing; if you are studying, do internships so that your work is tested.
Conclusion
So friends, in this summary, you have come to know that we spend a lot of time making our plans or beliefs and proving them right but spend very little time evaluating whether those beliefs and goals are correct or need improvement.
That’s why rethinking should be checked occasionally on how accurate the present method is. Let us now repeat the lesson learned so that you can remember it easily:
First, remember that we don’t know everything. So always be ready to learn. Most people decide by being influenced by three mindsets Preacher, Prosecutor, or Politician. This sometimes makes it difficult to reach the truth, so make your decision based on facts from a scientist’s perspective.
- If you want people to pay attention to your point of view, instead of giving reasons to prove yourself right, increase their curiosity to know about your opinions by asking them questions.
- There can be many different aspects of everything, so do not try to dominate the others from your point of view, but understand the point of view of both with mutual understanding; this will make you aware of that topic from a new point of view.
- Always rethink your current strategy and consider how it can be done better. For example, if you are a businessman, think about how you will change your product and way of working in the coming time as per the market’s demand.
So friends, now the time has come to tell what was the best thing about this book you have just learned and will implement 100% in your life. Feel free to comment and let me know. See you soon with more great summaries.
Think Again Book Review
“Think Again” by Adam Grant is a thought-provoking and insightful book that challenges readers to reconsider their beliefs and embrace the power of intellectual humility.
Grant argues that our society is too focused on sticking to our opinions and defending them rather than being open to new ideas and changing our minds.
He offers practical strategies for embracing a “rethink” mindset, emphasizing the importance of curiosity, doubt, and continuous learning.
Grant’s engaging storytelling and evidence-based approach make “Think Again” a compelling read encouraging personal growth and the pursuit of truth. It is a must-read for those seeking intellectual agility and resilience.
Thank You.
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