In this resource we discuss Adam Grant’s book Think Again where we explore the power of knowing what we don’t know and how we can apply this to our lives. This is the third resource in the series.
III. Collective Thinking
A. Have More Nuanced Conversations.
18. Complexify contentious topics. There are more than two sides to every story. Instead of polarizing issues like two sides of a coin, look at them like many facets of a prism. Seeing the many colors of refraction can be a lot more enjoyable than just seeing black and white.
19. Don’t shy away from caveats and contingencies. Look into the background circumstances to prevent misinterpretation. Look at the circumstances and the cause and effect. There are back stories and outliers in every common occurrence. Rowdy kids on a subway. Excuse my children. We are just coming from their mother’s funeral.
20. Expand our emotional range. we don’t have to eliminate frustration or even indignation but also engage curiosity, or admit confusion and acknowledge ambivalence. This is really practicing emotional agility.
Speaking of caveats Adam Grant uses the next few points to talk about specific contingencies such as parenting and our work life.
B. Teach Kids to Think Again.
21. Have weekly myth-busting discussion at dinner. The dinner table in itself has become a myth. Perhaps sitting around a meal and just evaluating what we are thinking as a family may be a great contribution to collective thinking in our culture.
22. Invite kids to do multiple drafts and seek feedback from others. Show them the process not just the finished product. Struggle for them and struggle with them.
23. Stop asking kids what they want to be when they grow up. There once upon a time was a norm of getting and setting in a career until retirement. This is not that time. Encourage kids to exercise the vast options of our fast changing world.
C. Create Learning Organizations
24. Abandon best practices. Best practices suggests that the ideal routines are already in place and doesn’t invite investigation into better practices. If there is a thread that has been woven in this work by Adam Grant it is ‘be curious’. Let the best today be that, but be open for innovation and imagination to create something new tomorrow.
25. Establish psychological safety. Give a safe environment where people can question and challenge the leader's role. Just because someone has the compass doesn’t mean they can’t be questioned on the way they are going. The best leaders that I have followed, who have a compass, also admit that they are just trying to find their way too.
26. Keep a rethinking scoreboard. Don’t evaluate decisions based only on results. A bad process with a good outcome can be luck. A good process with a bad outcome might be a smart experiment.
D. Stay open to Rethinking our Future
27. Throw out the ten-year plan. Planning just one step ahead can keep us open to rethinking. Trying to look ahead when you don’t have a clear picture of the future is like trying to see further ahead in a thick fog at night by turning up the high beams. Keep the lights and the focus on the present and what is just ahead.
28. Rethink our actions, not just our surroundings. Chasing happiness can chase it away. Trading one set of circumstances for another set may not end up making our situation better.
29. Schedule a life checkup. It’s easy to get caught in an escalation of commitment to an unfulfilling plan. Just like a physical check up, schedule a plan check up.
30. Make time to think again. On our calendar, schedule a weekly time to rethink and unlearn. Have a weekend retreat once or twice a year or take an extended personal sabbatical. Hit the pause button so you can focus on what is being said in your life.
