Adam Grant
Think Again
ISBN: 978-1-9848-7810-6
Never before have I had so many people recommend a specific book as I did with Adam Grant’s latest book, Think Again. It was actually somewhat surprising the number of people who had mentioned this book to me over the past year or so – I figured it must be a life-changing experience for one work to be mentioned that many times by more than a couple of people. So, I decided to dive in and read the book and, well, I wasn’t as impressed as my colleagues.
There was a strange dichotomy in this book. One chapter would be absolutely amazing, full of insights and great advice. The next chapter would be rather uninteresting, not offering anything original. I don’t know if this book was the culmination of a number of different blog posts, or if there was a fair amount of time between the writing of each chapter. Perhaps I started with a decent quantity of the same knowledge base as the author, so a good deal of the information didn’t seem new to me.
On top of that, the book was a bit of a slog to read through. It’s not terribly long, but it’s a very dense read. There are a lot of great examples used to illustrate points in the book, and sometimes it’s worth reading through the examples more than once. In addition, the author seemed to miss the point of “fun” arguments and battles, like those of opposing sports team fanbases, and sucked all of the fun out of those rivalries. Honestly, I’d rather have those types of rivalries and arguments than those that occur between racial, ethnic, or political groups that have decimated communities worldwide over the course of history.
My favorite section of the book involved Motivational Interviewing – something that I’ve studied since my time in graduate school nearly 20 years ago. Motivational Interviewing is a method usually used in counseling and advising that is designed to change behavior in those looking to improve their situation. In graduate school, we were using it in a health promotion context – stopping smoking, cutting down on unhealthy behaviors, etc. It was amazing to see this topic taken out of the clinical setting and accessible to a broader audience, relating it to the polarized world in which we currently live.
The best part of the book for those who are looking for a quick summary of the book is the Actions for Impact section, starting on page 251. This is a summary of the book in the style of CliffNotes, for those who aren’t willing or able to slog through the first 250 pages of the book. I’ve noticed that other books are starting to include sections like this at the end of each chapter or as a summary at the end of the text. Is this due to overall shortened attention spans in the age of 30-second long Internet videos? If you’re not able to sit down and read through the entire book, the Actions for Impact section is a decent substitute. (Honestly, it’s more fun to just read the entire book, but time is sometimes not on everyone’s side.)
Overall, 8/10, would recommend to those who feel as though they are stuck in a rut, either in the content of personal or professional life. At times, this book is incredibly frustrating, but then it turns around and makes you rethink everything about the way you do things. There are parts of the book that feel like the author is suggesting you sit on the fence and avoid decision-making. However, he makes up for it at the end of the book in the Actions for Impact section. If you need to learn how to look at problems through a different lens, this might be the solution for you.