Adam Grant Quotes

By looking on the bright side, we'll activate enthusiasm and turn on the go system.

~ Adam Grant

Reasoning does create a paradox: it leads both to more rule following and more rebelliousness. By explaining moral principles, parents encourage their children to comply voluntarily with rules that align with important values and to question rules that don’t. Good explanations enable children to develop a code of ethics that often coincides with societal expectations; when they don’t square up, children rely on the internal compass of values rather than the external compass of rules.

~ Adam Grant

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

~ Adam Grant

Practice makes perfect, but it doesn’t make new

~ Adam Grant

Practice makes perfect, but it doesn’t make new.

~ Adam Grant

Practice makes perfect, but it doesn’t make new. The gifted learn to play magnificent Mozart melodies and beautiful Beethoven symphonies, but never compose their own original scores.

~ Adam Grant

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. When

~ Adam Grant

Convictions 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.

~ Adam Grant

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.

~ Adam Grant

Productive givers focus on acting in the long-term best interests of others, even if it's not pleasant. They have the courage to give the critical feedback we prefer not to hear, but truly need to hear. They offer tough love, knowing that we might like them less, but we'll come to trust and respect them more.

~ Adam Grant

The more important argument against grade curves is that they create an atmosphere that's toxic by pitting students against one another. At best, it creates a hypercompetitive culture, and at worst, it sends students the message that the world is a zero-sum game: Your success means my failure.

~ Adam Grant

Bragging about yourself violates norms of modesty and politeness - and if you were really competent, your work would speak for itself.

~ Adam Grant

From a motivation perspective, helping others enriches the meaning and purpose of our own lives, showing us that our contributions matter and energizing us to work harder, longer, and smarter.

~ Adam Grant

When people are depending on us, we end up finding strength we didn't know we had.

~ Adam Grant

The culture of a workplace - an organization's values, norms and practices - has a huge impact on our happiness and success.

~ Adam Grant

Complex tasks are often better handled in the back of our mind, and that's often true of creative tasks - when you have something complex to deal with in writing or research or responding to an email. I'll start working, put it aside, and sometimes I'll wake up the next morning with a solution, or I'll find one when I exercise.

~ Adam Grant

Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence.

~ Adam Grant

Instead of assuming that emotional intelligence is always useful, we need to think more carefully about where and when it matters.

~ Adam Grant

As more women 'lean in' and we collectively continue to fight sexism, there's another barrier to progress that hasn't been addressed: Many men who would like to see more women leaders are afraid to speak up about it.

~ Adam Grant

It's ironic that when you go through a tragedy, you appreciate more. You realize how fragile life is and that there are so many things to still be thankful for.

~ Adam Grant

The mark of higher education isn't the knowledge you accumulate in your head. It's the skills you gain about how to learn.

~ Adam Grant

In the conversation about women in leadership, male voices are noticeably absent.

~ Adam Grant

For women to achieve equal representation in leadership roles, it's important that they have the backing of men as well as women.

~ Adam Grant

If we want girls to receive positive reinforcement for early acts of leadership, let's discourage bossy behavior along with banning bossy labels. That means teaching girls to engage in behaviors that earn admiration before they assert their authority.

~ Adam Grant

When medical students focus on helping others, they're able to weather the slings and arrows of long hours and devastating health outcomes: they know their colleagues and patients are depending on them.

~ Adam Grant

Takers believe in a zero-sum world, and they end up creating one where bosses, colleagues and clients don't trust them. Givers build deeper and broader relationships - people are rooting for them instead of gunning for them.

~ Adam Grant

When a salesperson truly cares about you, trust forms, and you're more likely to buy, come back for repeat business, and refer new customers.

~ Adam Grant

I have two rules for a great book: make me think and make me smile.

~ Adam Grant

From a relationship perspective, givers build deeper and broader connections.

~ Adam Grant