Think Again - Adam Grant

Non-Fiction

Rating: 9/10

We are taught from childhood that a key mark of intelligence is the ability to think and learn.  But in his new book, Adam Grant says that in our turbulent, fast paced world, there’s a more important skill; the ability to rethink and unlearn.

By setting aside your unshakeable beliefs when presented with an alternative position, updating your opinions, and admitting when you are wrong, you can gain a greater level of wisdom than you ever envisioned for yourself and connect with people you would never have imagined.

While rethinking and unlearning are not new intellectual exercises; “the unexamined life is not worth living”, they are worth revisiting.  Grant will guide you through the process with a crisp contemporary examination that focuses on three core areas; the individual, changing the minds of others, and collective environments.  Supporting his text with exhaustive research and anecdotes on a variety of topics, the reader is never left at sea drowning in endless data.

I had the most fun with the part of the book that covered the topic of Idea Cults.  You will recognize many of them!

Footnote: This book’s motto, should it require such a distillation, is as follows; always be rethinking, reconsidering, reevaluating, and reimagining your beliefs, thoughts, and identities.