Adam M. Grant Quotes

“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.”