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| website = [https://adamgrant.net/book/think-again/ adamgrant.net]
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📘 '''''Think Again''''' (Viking, 2 February 2021) is Adam Grant’s nonfiction guide to the practice of rethinking—urging readers to replace “preacher, prosecutor, politician” mindsets with a scientist’s habit of testing beliefs and updating them.<ref name="PRH2021" />
Grant blends social-science research with case-led storytelling to teach tools such as listening that persuades and building “challenge networks,” illustrated with an international debate champion, a musician who deradicalizes, and a “vaccine whisperer.”<ref name="PRH2021" />
Library Journal described the book as a “fast-paced account” by a leading authority on the psychology of thinking, noting its accessibility for general readers.<ref name="LibraryJournal2020">{{cite web |title=Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/think-again-the-power-of-knowing-what-you-dont-know |website=Library Journal |publisher=Library Journal |date=1 December 2020 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref>
Structurally, the text is organized in three sections—individual, interpersonal, and collective rethinking—followed by a concluding chapter.<ref name="PRHHE2021">{{cite web |title=Think Again |url=https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780593395783 |website=Penguin Random House Higher Education |publisher=Penguin Random House |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref>
The first edition (320 pages; ISBN 978-1-9848-7810-6) was published in hardcover on 2 February 2021 by Viking.<ref name="PRH2021" /><ref name="OCLC1191456279" />
The publisher lists the title as a #1 New York Times bestseller, and it appeared on year-end lists from The Washington Post and Newsweek in 2021.<ref name="PRH2021" /><ref name="WaPoBest2021">{{cite news |title=Best nonfiction of 2021 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/11/18/best-nonfiction-2021/ |work=The Washington Post |date=18 November 2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref><ref name="NewsweekFav2021">{{cite news |title=Our 21 Favorite Books of 2021 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/our-21-favorite-books-2021-1661466 |work=Newsweek |date=22 December 2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref>
== Chapter summary ==
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🔭 '''11 – Escaping Tunnel Vision: Reconsidering Our Best-Laid Career and Life Plans.'''
== Background & reception ==
🖋️ '''Author & writing'''. Grant, an organizational psychologist and Wharton professor, is widely recognized for his teaching and research on motivation and meaning.<ref name="WhartonProfile">{{cite web |title=Adam Grant - Wharton Management |url=https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/grantad/ |website=Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref> Before ''Think Again'', he authored ''Give and Take'' and ''Originals'' and co-authored ''Option B''; this book focuses on the art of rethinking and unlearning.<ref name="PRH2021" /> He contrasts the “preacher, prosecutor, politician” modes with thinking like a scientist and popularizes tactics such as cultivating a “challenge network.”<ref name="PRH2021" /><ref name="EntrepreneurChNetwork">{{cite news |title=Are You Thinking Like a Challenger? |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/are-you-thinking-like-a-challenger/373175 |work=Entrepreneur |date=27 June 2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref> The narrative voice mixes synthesis of research with storytelling—Library Journal called it a “fast-paced account”—and the book is structured in three sections: individual, interpersonal, and collective rethinking.<ref name="LibraryJournal2020" /><ref name="PRHHE2021" /> Grant promoted the work in public forums, including a WHYY conversation about why there can be “joy in admitting we’re wrong,” and TED highlighted the book alongside his talk “What frogs in hot water can teach us about thinking again.”<ref name="WHYY2021">{{cite web |title=Adam Grant on “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know” |url=https://whyy.org/episodes/adam-grant-on-think-again-the-power-of-knowing-what-you-dont-know/ |website=WHYY |publisher=WHYY |date=26 March 2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref><ref name="TEDBooks2021">{{cite web |title=New books from TED speakers: Summer reading |url=https://ideas.ted.com/new-books-from-ted-speakers-summer-reading/ |website=TED Ideas |publisher=TED Conferences |date=23 June 2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref> The Library of Congress also showcased Grant and the book’s themes at the 2021 National Book Festival.<ref name="LoCBookFest2021">{{cite web |title=Adam Grant |url=https://www.loc.gov/events/2021-national-book-festival/authors/item/n2012065680/adam-grant/ |website=Library of Congress |publisher=Library of Congress |date=2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref>
📈 '''Commercial reception'''. Penguin Random House lists ''Think Again'' as a #1 New York Times bestseller.<ref name="PRH2021" /> ''Publishers Weekly'' reported the book at #8 on its national print bestsellers for the week of 22 February 2021.<ref name="PWFeb2021">{{cite news |title=This Week's Bestsellers: February 22, 2021 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/85646-this-week-s-bestsellers-february-22-2021.html |work=Publishers Weekly |date=19 February 2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref> It also appeared on ''The Washington Post'' lists, including #9 on the hardcover bestsellers dated 30 March 2021 and later on the paperback list in March 2024.<ref name="WaPoHB2021">{{cite news |title=Washington Post hardcover bestsellers |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/washington-post-hardcover-bestsellers/2021/03/30/4e6ec406-9181-11eb-9668-89be11273c09_story.html |work=The Washington Post |date=30 March 2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref><ref name="WaPoPB2024">{{cite news |title=Washington Post paperback bestsellers |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/03/20/washington-post-paperback-bestsellers/ |work=The Washington Post |date=20 March 2024 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref>
👍 '''Praise'''. ''The Washington Post'' named ''Think Again'' one of its best nonfiction books of 2021, noting that it “delivers smart advice on unlearning assumptions and opening ourselves up to curiosity and humility.”<ref name="WaPoBest2021" /> ''Newsweek'' included it among “Our 21 Favorite Books of 2021,” praising its emphasis on questioning deeply held beliefs.<ref name="NewsweekFav2021" /> Library Journal recommended it to general readers as a brisk, authoritative account of rethinking and decision-making.<ref name="LibraryJournal2020" />
👎 '''Criticism'''. ''Kirkus Reviews'' judged that the book “breaks little to no ground,” even while offering useful reminders to test one’s beliefs.<ref name="Kirkus2020">{{cite web |title=THINK AGAIN |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/adam-grant/think-again-grant/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |publisher=Kirkus Reviews |date=24 November 2020 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref> A review in ''Quillette'' argued that Grant “provides few clues about where rethinking a given issue ought to end,” calling for clearer boundaries between healthy doubt and paralyzing uncertainty.<ref name="Quillette2021">{{cite news |title=Six Great Ideas from Adam Grant's 'Think Again' |url=https://quillette.com/2021/05/28/six-great-ideas-from-adam-grants-think-again/ |work=Quillette |date=28 May 2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref> An academic notice in the ''Journal of Character and Leadership Development'' found the leadership framing compelling but observed the book’s reliance on familiar corporate cautionary tales (e.g., Blockbuster, Kodak, BlackBerry).<ref name="JCLD2021">{{cite journal |author=Dickman, K. |date=2021 |title=A Review of “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know” |journal=Journal of Character and Leadership Development |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages= |url=https://jcldusafa.org/index.php/jcld/article/view/222 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref>
🌍 '''Impact & adoption'''. Universities have assigned the book in courses and reading groups, including a University of Florida Honors (Un)Common Read seminar (Fall 2022), a University of Denver graduate course on Persuasion and Influence (2023), and a University of Pennsylvania critical-writing course (2025).<ref name="UFHonors2022">{{cite web |title=IDH 2930 (un)common read – Think Again (syllabus) |url=https://www.honors.ufl.edu/media/honorsufledu/syllabi/fall-22/2042_27881-ThinkAgain-Hershfield.pdf |website=University of Florida Honors Program |publisher=University of Florida |date=2022 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref><ref name="UDenver2023">{{cite web |title=COMM 4016 Persuasion and Influence (syllabus excerpt) |url=https://www.furman.edu/faculty-development-center/event/think-again-the-power-ofknowingwhat-you-dot-know/ |website=Furman University / University of Denver course materials |publisher=Furman University |date=18 January 2022 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref><ref name="UPennCritWriting2025">{{cite web |title=Critical Writing Course Collection – Rethinking (course description) |url=https://apps.sas.upenn.edu/writing/ccs/catalog.php?action=query_results&conj=and&first_row=1&mode=all&prog=CRIT&term=2025A |website=School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |date=2025 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref> Beyond campuses, public-facing platforms amplified the ideas—WHYY hosted a live conversation and TED featured the book alongside Grant’s related talk—and former U.S. President Bill Clinton publicly cited ''Think Again'' as prompting him to reconsider unexamined preconceptions.<ref name="WHYY2021" /><ref name="TEDBooks2021" /><ref name="GuardianClinton">{{cite news |title=Bill Clinton: ‘I always wanted to be a writer, but doubted my ability to do it’ |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/11/bill-clinton-i-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer-but-doubted-my-ability-to-do-it |work=The Guardian |date=11 June 2021 |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref>
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