On second thoughts

Book review of Think again: The Power of Knowing What you Don't Know

When accused of changing his mind often, the economist John Maynard Keynes famously said: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, Sir?”

The world around us is changing more rapidly than ever before. Alas, our mental models about how it works don’t keep pace, creating a disconnect between our beliefs and the reality out there. Such a disconnect can, at times, prove ruinously expensive. In this book, Adam Grant, an organisational psychologist at Wharton, dwells upon why all of us need to become better at updating our views and how we can acquire the mental dexterity to do so.

But why are so many of us so rigid in our world view? One reason is that our experiences mould our beliefs. If our station in life is comfortable, we are apt to think that the future will be an extrapolation of the past. Take one example. A friend of mine had been working at a large software company for 15 years, heading a team of programmers. He drew a hefty salary. His job mostly entailed attending meetings and passing on his superiors’ instructions to his subordinates. Life was good. Since he had a tendency to delegate all the grunt work, he gradually lost whatever coding skills he once possessed. He believed he would cruise along at his company for another 10 years and then retire comfortably. Then the pandemic struck and he was fired. With mid-level managerial positions hard to come by, he is attending a coding boot camp, trying to regain his lost skills. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrote, life can be more uncertain than a game of Russian roulette. It can deliver a killer bullet when you least expect it.

Early success often breeds hubris and leads to the ossification of one’s world view. If you are successful, why would you let go of a good thing? So, you keep doing what you have always done. Alas, the world around you doesn’t stand still. Before you realise it, the competition has left you trailing in its slipstream. The phone maker Blackberry’s precipitous fall illustrates this point perfectly.

When we have held certain views for long, our very identity gets anchored to them. But, as Mr Grant says, in a rapidly changing world, we need to anchor our sense of self in flexibility rather than in consistency.

Think again: The Power of Knowing What you Don’t Know

Author: Adam Grant

Publisher:   WH Allen

Pages: 307; Price: Rs 799

According to the author, when people think or speak, they mostly slip into one of three roles—that of preachers, prosecutor, or politician. As preacher, we deliver sermons and protect our sacred beliefs. As prosecutors, we attack other peoples’ views and try to prove them wrong. And as politicians, we get so caught up in trying to win others’ approval that we say what they want to hear, with scant regard for truth.

Mr Grant suggests that the role that can serve us best is that of a scientist. Develop a hypothesis, then try to find evidence to corroborate it. If you do, stick to the hypothesis. If not, reject it. When we adopt this mode, rethinking becomes central to our way of life. Humility can be another great asset as it keeps us open to listening and learning.

Not just individuals, even organisations possess blind spots. Many prioritise outcome over process. If the outcome is good, bad processes are overlooked. NASA was such an organisation once. It prioritised the number of launches over safety. It got away with this for some time. But then, as surely as night follows day, spaceships exploded, forcing it to mend its ways.

For younger people, the chapter titled “Escaping tunnel vision” is a must-read. Youngsters often choose a career based on pressure from elders, or sometimes they pursue the hottest careers of their times. Alas, many have little idea of whether the job will match their aptitude. Many years down the line they realise they have made the wrong choice. But by then they have invested so much time and effort into that career that they are reluctant to walk away. The unwillingness to take short-term losses, however, translates into a lifetime of misery. On the other hand, those who find the courage to switch go on to lead much more satisfying lives. Did you, for instance, know that Khushwant Singh was a lawyer—a miserable one—for many years in Lahore before he decided to switch to writing?

The central point of Mr Grant’s book is that outdated views bog us down. A willingness to learn and change keeps us more attuned to the world around us and can help us lead more fulfilling lives. 

There is no doubt Mr Grant has penned an immensely valuable book. The only question is whether those who need it the most will muster the humility to read it and adopt what he has to teach.