Quotes from Adam Grant

I want my children to know that we often become resilient for others.

If an organization values innovation, you can assume it's safe to speak up with new ideas, leaders will listen, and your voice matters.

If we want people to vote, we need to make it a larger part of their self-image.

The more I help out, the more successful I become. But I measure success in what it has done for the people around me. That is the real accolade.

Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it's valuable in a marathon.

Highly successful people have three things in common: motivation, ability, and opportunity.

An employee made a mistake that cost the company $10 million, he walked into the office of Tom Watson, the C.E.O., expecting to get fired. "Fire you?" Mr. Watson asked. "I just spent $10 million educating you.

Conviction in our ideas is dangerous not only because it leaves us vulnerable to false positives, but also because it stops us from generating the requisite variety to reach our creative potential.

After spending decades studying how people deal with setbacks, psychologist Martin Seligman found that three P's can stunt recovery: (1) personalization - the belief that we are at fault; (2) pervasiveness - the belief that an event will affect all areas of our life; and (3) permanence - the belief that the aftershocks of the event will last forever.

Givers reject the notion that interdependence is weak. Givers are more likely to see interdependence as a source of strength, a way to harness the skills of multiple people for a greater good.

Dissenting opinions are useful, even when they are wrong.

Having a sense of security in one realm gives us the freedom to be original in another. By covering our bases financially, we escape the pressure to publish half-baked books, sell shoddy art, or launch untested businesses.

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

Originality brings more bumps in the road, yet it leaves us with more happiness and a greater sense of meaning.

Original thinkers doubt the default.

Meyer summarizes his code of honor as "(1) Show up, (2) Work hard. (3) Be kind. (4) Take the high road.

Argue like you're right and listen like you're wrong.

To overcome fear, why does getting excited work better than trying to calm yourself down? Fear is an intense emotion. You can feel your heart pumping and your blood coursing. In that state, trying to relax is like slamming on the brakes when a car is going 80 miles per hour. The vehicle still has momentum. Rather than trying to suppress a strong emotion, it's easier to convert it into a different emotion - one that's equally intense, but propels is to step on the gas.

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

Many people who hold giver values in life choose matching as their primary reciprocity style at work, seeking an even balance of give and take.

Excellence is the product of high aspirations and low ego.

Rather than looking outward in an attempt to predict the outcome, you turn inward to your identity. You base the decision on who you are--or who you want to be.

And they act in the face of risk, because their fear of not succeeding exceeds their fear of failing.

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