Our book shelf is always bursting at the seams with the latest reads. So, in the spirit of sharing, we decided to create a book club. Our culture specialist, Nikki, has recently finished ‘Think Again’ by Adam Grant, discover her lightbulb moments below.
What is Think Again all about?
If you’re a fan of Adam Grant, you won’t be disappointed. This clever mix of science and storytelling pitches why it’s so important for us to be curious, open minded and feel the joy of being wrong.
“If knowledge is power, knowing what you don’t know is wisdom.”
Think Again is in three parts:
- How we can update our own views.
- How we can open other people’s minds.
- How we can shape collective rethinking, e.g. in organisations.
Who is it for?
Anyone who wants to be more curious, spark more change and think more like a scientist. Think Again is full of useful tips to try at work and at home.
Light bulb moments
Preacher, prosecutor, politician – or scientist?
When we think and talk, we often fall into one of three mindsets:
- Preacher – when our beliefs are in jeopardy we deliver sermons and preach to protect and promote our ideas.
- Prosecutor – when we see flaws in other people’s reasoning and create arguments to prove them wrong and win our case.
- Politician – when we want to win over an audience and lobby for the approval of others.
The problem with each is that we don’t take the time to reflect and rethink our own views. Rather than being a preacher, prosecutor or politician, we can benefit from being more like a scientist – where rethinking, doubting what you know and experimenting are second nature.
Motivating through listening
When we want to encourage other people to open their minds and rethink, the right kind of listening can have a huge impact.
Motivational interviewing is a practice. Introduced by psychologist Bill Miller, it’s based on the belief that we can rarely motivate someone else to change. Instead, we’re better off helping find their own motivation to change. Using a mix of open-ended questions, reflective listening and affirmation of desire and ability to change, it can help people to rethink any aspect of their life.
Breaking away from ‘thats the way we’ve always done it’
For me, ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it’ is one of the most frustrating things to hear. It is also something I hear a lot.
We can break away from that by helping to develop learning cultures within organisations, where the norm is for people to know what they don’t know, doubt existing practices, stay curious and experiment with new ways of doing things.
Learning cultures develop with a combination of psychological safety and accountability.
Would you like to read this book?
Once we’ve finished reading a book, we share the headlines and then send it to anyone who wants to read it. Once you’re done, you can either let it live forever on your shelf or share it with someone new.
As always, if you’d like to read this book, email nikki@wearethecultureclub.co.uk. We’ll pop it in the post to the first person who asks.
