Nate’s Notes 108: Adam Grant | Inside the Mind of Wharton’s Top-Rated Professor

I love the lessons Adam shared:

First, we should be careful about listening to other people’s advice because they can only tell us what’s worked for them, and it may or may not apply to us. Adam learned this lesson accidentally from his mom who told him to not be a professor.

Second, it’s common for people to think that the best thing they can do for the world is achieve success and then give back. But Adam thinks that’s backward. It’s through helping other people that we often achieve our greatest success.

And finally, sometimes we don’t really appreciate the lessons people share with us until we’ve made the same mistakes they’re warning us about. Adam’s mentor warned him that that danger of loving his work is that he might end up working all the time. It wasn’t until Adam had a child, and was feeling a sense of compulsive workaholism on Saturday mornings, that he was able to step back and recalibrate his priorities.

In summary, listen skeptically. But do listen.

It’s a simple idea. Please take it seriously.

Adam Grant Bio:

Adam Grant is Wharton’s top-rated professor (going on 7 straight years) and has been recognized as the world’s #2 most influential management thinker.

Adam is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 6 books that have sold millions of copies and been translated into 45 languages: Hidden Potential, Think Again, Give and Take, Originals, Option B, and Power Moves. His viral piece on languishing was the most-read New York Times article of 2021.

Adam hosts the TED podcasts Re:Thinking and WorkLife, which have been downloaded over 70 million times. His TED talks on languishing, original thinkers, and givers and takers have over 35 million views.

Adam’s speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NBA, Bridgewater, and the Gates Foundation. He has served on the Defense Innovation Board at the Pentagon, has been honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and has appeared on the television show Billions. He has more than 8 million followers on social media and features new insights in his free monthly newsletter, GRANTED.

Adam was tenured at Wharton while still in his twenties, and has received the Excellence in Teaching Award for every class he has taught. He curates the Next Big Idea Club along with Susan Cain, Malcolm Gladwell, and Dan Pink, as they raise money to provide books for children in under-resourced communities.