Adam M. Grant Quotes

“Highly successful people have three things in common: motivation, ability, and opportunity. If we want to succeed, we need a combination of hard work, talent, and luck.”

“If we create networks with the sole intention of getting something, we won’t succeed. We can’t pursue the benefits of networks; the benefits ensue from investments in meaningful activities and relationships.”

“Overall, on average, happier people earn more money, get higher performance ratings, make better decisions, negotiate sweeter deals, and contribute more to their organizations. Happiness alone accounts for about 10 percent of the variation between employees and job performance.”

“Success doesn’t measure a human being, effort does.”

“The art of advocacy is to lead you to my conclusion on your terms.”

“The fear of being judged as weak or naïve prevents many people from operating like givers at work.”

“This is what I find most magnetic about successful givers: they get to the top without cutting others down, finding ways of expanding the pie that benefit themselves and the people around them. Whereas success is zero-sum in a group of takers, in groups of givers, it may be true that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

“Argue like you’re right and listen like you’re wrong.”

“As we gain knowledge about a field, we become prisoners of our prototypes.”

“Being original doesn’t require being first. It just means being different and better.”

“Bragging about yourself violates norms of modesty and politeness – and if you were really competent, your work would speak for itself.”

“Having a sense of security in one realm gives us the freedom to be original in another.”

“In the deepest sense of the word, a friend is someone who sees more potential in you than you see in yourself, someone who helps you become the best version of yourself.”

“Practice makes perfect, but it doesn’t make new. The gifted learn to play magnificent Mozart melodies and beautiful Beethoven symphonies, but never compose their own original scores.”

“The least favorite students were the non-conformists who made up their own rules. Teachers tend to discriminate against highly creative students, labeling them as troublemakers.”

“The personality trait most associated with an interest in the arts is called openness, the tendency to seek out novelty in intellectual, aesthetic, and emotional pursuits.”

“Timing accounted for forty-two percent of the difference between success and failure.”

“To become original, you have to try something new, which means accepting some measure of risk.”

“We often undercommunicate our ideas. They’re already so familiar to us that we underestimate how much exposure an audience needs to comprehend and buy into them.”

“When we're determined to reach an objective, it's the gap between where we are and where we aspire to be that lights a fire under us.”

“A hallmark of wisdom is knowing when it’s time to abandon some of your most treasured tools, and some of the most cherished parts of your identity.”

“After all, the purpose of learning isn't to affirm our beliefs; it's to evolve our beliefs.”

“Being a scientist is not just a profession, it's a frame of mind... Scientific tools are not reserved for people in white coats and beakers. Hypotheses have as much place in our lives as they do in the lab. Experiments can inform our daily decisions.”

“Confidence is a measure of how much you believe in yourself. Evidence shows that's distinct from how much you believe in your methods. You can be confident in your ability to achieve a goal in the future while maintaining the humility to question whether you have the right tools in the present. That's the sweet spot of confidence.”

“Stop asking kids what they want to be when the grow up. They don't have to define themselves in terms of a career. A single identity can close the door to alternatives. Instead of trying to narrow their options, help them to broaden their possibilities. They don't have to be one thing. They can do many things.”

“There's a fine line between heroic persistence and foolish stubbornness. Sometimes the best kind of grit is gritting our teeth and turning around.”

“Uncertainty primes us to ask questions and absorb new ideas.”

“We often favor feeling right, over being right.”

“When ideas survive it's not because they're true – it's because they are interesting. What makes an idea interesting is that it changes our weakly held opinions.”

“When people are resistant to change, it helps to reinforce what will stay the same.”