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In Think Again, Adam Grant argues that in a polarized world, the ability to rethink at the personal, interpersonal, and collective level is crucial. Using innovative ideas and compelling evidence, Grant explores how people can find joy in being wrong, leverage the unexpected benefits of impostor syndrome, add depth to contentious discussions, and cultivate environments of lifelong learning in schools, workplaces, and communities. He illustrates how an international debate champion wins arguments, how a Black musician persuades many white supremacists to renounce hate, how a vaccine advocate convinces hesitant parents to vaccinate their children, and how he himself convinced Boston Red Sox baseball fans to feel less hostility toward rival New York Yankees fans. According to Grant, rethinking is crucial in a rapidly changing world because it encourages people to update their beliefs and opinions based on new information, which leads to improved decision-making and personal growth.

In Think Again, Grant weaves together scientific research, personal anecdotes, and engaging stories to create a compelling narrative that challenges readers to reconsider their beliefs and behaviors. Throughout the book, Grant provides examples of individuals who have successfully rethought their approaches to various challenges, illustrating the transformative power of changing one’s mind. From firefighter Wagner Dodge’s dramatic escape from a wildfire to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’s famous pivot from the iPod to the iPhone, these stories humanize the concepts Grant presents, illustrating the benefits of being open-minded. Dashes of humor, in the form of cartoons and occasional jokes, keep the reader entertained while digesting some pretty weighty concepts. Through his engaging storytelling and rigorous research, Grant offers a roadmap for embracing a more flexible and adaptive mindset, with the goal of empowering people to lead more fulfilling and successful lives.

Read more about how rethinking can lead to a better life (Main Idea #1).

The first step towards becoming a rethinker is to start thinking like a scientist, Grant believes. The scientist mindset involves updating views based on new data, rather than operating from the less flexible (but more common) mindsets of a preacher, a prosecutor, or a politician. Preachers are devoted to defending their beliefs without evidence, prosecutors seek to prove others wrong, and politicians aim to persuade others to support their views. According to Grant, all three of these mindsets hinder rethinking. Adopting the scientist mindset allows individuals to be more flexible, curious, and open to new ideas, fostering personal growth and improved decision-making. Widespread adoption of the scientist mindset, Grant believes, could lead to a less polarized world, one in which people are more concerned with relearning than with winning arguments.

Read more about the benefits of the scientist mindset (Main Idea #4).

Grant’s central idea questions the conventional wisdom that it is always virtuous to stand by one’s convictions, follow traditions, and persist with career and life plans regardless of the circumstances. He argues that relearning is essential at every stage of life. Instead of grit, tradition, and conviction, Grant advocates humility, curiosity, and a willingness to change. Over-confidence, he cautions, has been shown to correlate with a lack of competence. Whether one is rethinking their own opinions, trying to persuade someone else to think again, or trying to create a community of learners, Grant advocates beginning with the assumption that one’s knowledge is likely both limited and flawed. In order to be open to relearning, says Grant, it is essential to cultivate curiosity and confident humility. If mistakes are celebrated as opportunities to get closer to the truth, Grant believes people are more likely to be successful. 

In his chapters on influencing others to rethink, Grant recommends collaborative approaches over adversarial ones. He points out that audiences are more likely to be swayed by a debater who finds common ground and frames their argument in the form of questions than by someone who bombards their opponent with logical arguments. All of Grant’s suggestions for getting people to rethink their stereotypes and biases are based on the curiosity and humility of the scientific mindset. One of these suggestions is motivational interviewing. This style of dialogue involves asking open-ended questions, engaging in reflective listening, and affirming a person’s desire and ability to change. Another of these suggestions is to admit the complexity of an issue instead of simplifying it into binary categories. When compared to presenting only one perspective, acknowledging complexity is more likely to encourage rethinking, according to Grant. A third suggestion is to encourage counterfactual thinking. This refers to the practice of considering how one’s beliefs might be different if their life circumstances were different. Counterfactual thinking can help people reconsider their stereotypes and biases and can be a tool for promoting understanding among individuals with differing viewpoints.

Read an important quote about the virtues of different points of views for rethinking.

According to Grant, rethinking should be incorporated into the very fabric of how people learn, starting in elementary school and extending into college and the workplace. He explores various teaching methodologies that successfully encourage students to question what they have been taught by textbooks and teachers. In the workplace, Grant advocates for using a scientific mindset to create a culture of learning that encourages rethinking. He warns against blind loyalty to past practices, returning to the theme of the dangers of overconfidence. He goes even further when he suggests that it would be productive for people to rethink their careers and life plans on a regular basis. Rather than pursuing happiness as a goal, he suggests, people should seek meaning and purpose in their life and work. Fittingly, Grant’s conclusion is dedicated to questioning the concept of conclusions and advocating for open-ended thinking. The final pages of the book provide practical exercises for improving rethinking skills. Thus, Think Again offers a comprehensive exploration of the importance of rethinking in people’s personal and professional lives and encourages readers to embrace rethinking as a fundamental skill for navigating an increasingly complex and polarized world.

Read an important quote about how rethinking is an open-ended process.

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