6 Ways to Work On Your Rethinking Skills
After reading Adam Grant’s newest book Think Again- The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, I picked out my favorite takeaways and practical steps anyone can take to work on their rethinking skills.
At the end of the book, Adam lists out 30 practical takeaways in three main classifications. I am going to list my favorite two from each section below. Rethinking and challenging ourselves can unlock perspectives, experiences, and inform us with new information.
I. Individual Rethinking
He highlights developing the habit of thinking again, calibrating our confidence, and inviting others to question your thinking.
- Build a challenge network, not just a support network
- Define your identity in terms of values, not opinions
II. Interpersonal Rethinking
- Ask how rather than why and ask “what evidence would change your mind?”
- Approach disagreements as dances, not battles: have a conversation about the conversation
III. Collective Rethinking
Teach kids to think again, create learning organizations, and stay open to rethinking your future.
- Abandon best practices- These suggest that ideal routines are already in place. If we want people to keep rethinking the way they work, we might be better off adopting process accountability and continually striving for best practices.
- Schedule life checkups at least twice a year — Assess how much you are learning, how your beliefs and goals are evolving, and whether your next steps warrant some rethinking.
Sometimes we need to recognize that what matter more than other cognitive abilities is the ability to rethink and unlearn.
