Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
by Parker · 33 things on Twos
- The Science of Achieving Greater Things
- Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete Proving nature's law is wrong it learned 2 walk without having feet Funny it seems but by keeping its dreams it learned 2 breathe fresh air - THE ROSE THAT GREW FROM CONCRETE, WRITTEN BY TUPAC SHAKUR
- Motivation comes from a coach or teacher who made learning fun.
- "What any person in the world can learn, almost all persons can learn," the lead psychologist concluded, "if provided with appropriate... conditions of learning."
- the right opportunity and motivation to learn, anyone can build the skills to achieve greater things. Potential is not a matter of where you start, but of how far you travel. We need to focus less on starting points and more on distance traveled.
- Character is more than just having principles. It’s a learned capacity to live by your principles.
- They weren’t worried about being the smartest player in the room—they were aiming to make the room smarter.
- The achievement is in the growing
- The best way to accelerate growth is to embrace, seek, and amplify discomfort
- “If you’re comfortable, you’re doing it wrong.” - Ted Lasso
- Shyness is the fear of negative evaluation in social situations.
- “It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest. The species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt.” - Leon C. Megginson
- Being polite is withholding feedback to make someone feel good today. Being kind is being candid about how they can get better tomorrow.
- It's easy for people to be critics or cheerleaders. It's harder to get them to be coaches. A critic sees your weaknesses and attacks your worst self. A cheerleader sees your strengths and celebrates your best self. A coach sees your potential and helps you become a better version of yourself.
- Instead of seeking feedback, you're better off asking for advice. Feedback tends to focus on how well you did last time. Advice shifts attention to how you can do better next time.
- “There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” - Leonard Cohen
- The purpose of reviewing your mistakes isn’t to shame your past self. It’s to educate your future self.
- Did you make yourself better today? Did you make someone else better today?
- Success is not so much how close you come to perfection as how much you overcome along the way.
- Hundreds of experiments show that people improve faster then they alternate between different skills.
- Deliberate play and making it enjoyable unlocks hidden potential.
- Those who can do, can’t teach the basics.
- Instead of asking to pick someone’s brain, ask them to retrace their route.
- The best way to learn something is to teach it.
- You become more motivated after giving advice than receiving it.
- The expectations people hold of us often become self-fulfilling prophecies
- When others underestimate us, it limits our effort and growth.
- We worry about making our parents proud when we should be focused on making our children proud. The responsibility of each generation is not to please our predecessors—it's to improve conditions for our successors.
- Learning is fun.
- Children pay attention to our attention: where we focus tells them what we prize.
- The best teams have the most team players.
- Being a team player is about figuring out what the group needs and enlisting everyone’s contribution.
- We get more and better ideas if we all work alone than if we brainstorm together.