Think Again

"What evidence would change your mind? If the answer is nothing, then there’s no point in continuing the debate. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it think."

— Adam Grant, Think Again (2021)

Introduction

Think Again
File:Think-again-adam-grant.jpg
Full title	Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
Author	Adam Grant
Language	English
Subject	Critical thinking; Decision-making; Personal development
Genre	Nonfiction; Psychology; Self-help
Publisher	Viking
Publication date	2 February 2021
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover); e-book; audiobook
Pages	320
ISBN	978-1-9848-7810-6
Goodreads rating	4.2/5  (as of 8 November 2025)
Website	adamgrant.net

📘 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. 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.” 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. Structurally, the text is organized in three sections—individual, interpersonal, and collective rethinking—followed by a concluding chapter. The first edition (320 pages; ISBN 978-1-9848-7810-6) was published in hardcover on 2 February 2021 by Viking. 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.

Chapter summary

This outline follows the Viking hardcover edition (2 February 2021, ISBN 978-1-9848-7810-6).

I – Individual Rethinking: Updating Our Own Views

🧠 1 – A Preacher, a Prosecutor, a Politician, and a Scientist Walk into Your Mind. In Milan, more than a hundred Italian startup founders entered a four‑month entrepreneurship program and were randomly assigned either to standard training or to add “scientist’s goggles,” treating strategies as hypotheses, interviews as hypothesis generation, and prototypes as experiments. Over the following year the control group averaged under $300 in revenue, while the scientific‑thinking group averaged over $12,000, pivoted more than twice as often, and won customers sooner. The chapter introduces Phil Tetlock’s three mindsets—preacher, prosecutor, politician—to show how identity can eclipse evidence when we defend sacred beliefs, hunt for others’ errors, or chase approval. Stephen Greenspan’s cautionary tale illustrates the cost: he invested nearly a third of his retirement savings in a fund tied to Bernie Madoff, watched it rise 25 percent, and then lost it overnight when the Ponzi scheme collapsed. Mike Lazaridis’s BlackBerry offers a corporate parallel: after marveling at the first iPhone in 2007 and overseeing a company valued above $70 billion in 2008, he still resisted adding a robust browser and later balked at features like encrypted messaging—an opening WhatsApp eventually seized in a $19 billion acquisition—because he didn’t test alternatives to his favored device model. The chapter names the traps—confirmation bias, desirability bias, and the “I’m not biased” bias—and shows how intelligence can harden certainty rather than sharpen accuracy. Thinking like a scientist means tying identity to the quest for truth, not to any one idea; it normalizes running small tests, seeking disconfirming data, and revising models. By shifting from identity‑protective reasoning to evidence‑based updating, we build a rethinking cycle—humility, curiosity, and discovery—that keeps success from calcifying into dogma.

🪑 2 – The Armchair Quarterback and the Impostor: Finding the Sweet Spot of Confidence. Ursula Mercz, a seamstress admitted to a clinic with headaches and dizziness, insisted she could still see despite neurological blindness—a classic sign of Anton’s syndrome and a metaphor for how people can be blind to their own blind spots. The chapter then contrasts two Icelandic figures: business leader Halla Tómasdóttir, publicly petitioned in 2015 to run for president, who hesitated out of self‑doubt yet ultimately finished second with more than a quarter of the vote, and former prime minister Davíð Oddsson, whose unwavering confidence belied earlier failures. These cases bracket the Dunning–Kruger pattern: the unskilled can be overconfident “armchair quarterbacks,” while capable people often underrate themselves as “impostors.” Practical antidotes include objective yardsticks, learning goals, and “confident humility,” illustrated by Sara Blakely teaching herself hosiery manufacturing and patent basics before launching Spanx. Research cited from Basima Tewfik shows that professionals with impostor thoughts can be rated more interpersonally effective, and Danielle Tussing’s study in rotating charge‑nurse roles finds that those who felt some hesitation sought second opinions and led teams more effectively. The chapter’s throughline is calibration: match confidence to competence by anchoring self‑belief in evidence and treat doubt as a cue to prepare and listen. The mechanism is continuous re‑estimation—actively sampling feedback, inviting disconfirmation, and using humility to power learning while confidence sustains action.

🤯 3 – The Joy of Being Wrong: The Thrill of Not Believing Everything You Think.

🥊 4 – The Good Fight Club: The Psychology of Constructive Conflict.

II – Interpersonal Rethinking: Opening Other People's Minds

🗣️ 5 – Dances with Foes: How to Win Debates and Influence People.

⚾ 6 – Bad Blood on the Diamond: Diminishing Prejudice by Destabilizing Stereotypes.

💉 7 – Vaccine Whisperers and Mild-Mannered Interrogators: How the Right Kind of Listening Motivates People to Change.

III – Collective Rethinking: Creating Communities of Lifelong Learners

⚡ 8 – Charged Conversations: Depolarizing Our Divided Discussions.

📚 9 – Rewriting the Textbook: Teaching Students to Question Knowledge.

🏢 10 – That’s Not the Way We’ve Always Done It: Building Cultures of Learning at Work.

IV – Conclusion

🔭 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. 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. He contrasts the “preacher, prosecutor, politician” modes with thinking like a scientist and popularizes tactics such as cultivating a “challenge network.” 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. 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.” The Library of Congress also showcased Grant and the book’s themes at the 2021 National Book Festival.

📈 Commercial reception. Penguin Random House lists Think Again as a #1 New York Times bestseller. Publishers Weekly reported the book at #8 on its national print bestsellers for the week of 22 February 2021. 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.

👍 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.” Newsweek included it among “Our 21 Favorite Books of 2021,” praising its emphasis on questioning deeply held beliefs. Library Journal recommended it to general readers as a brisk, authoritative account of rethinking and decision-making.

👎 Criticism. Kirkus Reviews judged that the book “breaks little to no ground,” even while offering useful reminders to test one’s beliefs. 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. 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).

🌍 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). 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.

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