Adam Grant, Professor at Wharton has written an extremely original book. His earlier foray and his first book, 'Give and Take' was a New York Times best seller translated into twenty-seven languages. In this book, Adam explores how innovators see the world differently and bring others into their success and through many interesting examples, overturns some myths and presents some counter intuitive insights. For example, the assumption that non-conformist innovators are all bold, young risk-takers, churning out one fantastic idea after another. In fact, they are often cautious late adopters. Their masterworks emerge - often unrecognised by their authors - because of the sheer quantity of average work they produce along the way. They "procrastinate strategically...testing and refining different possibilities" before making breakthroughs.
He describes how Dean Kamen, the brilliant inventor who has so many commercially successful inventions under his belt, failed miserably with the Segway. He also describes how his strong supporters, Steve Jobs as well as other investors with a strong nose for great ideas were so 'off the mark' with the Segway. Steve was in fact prepared to work for free to help bring Segway to the market. 'Segway was proclaimed to be a box office hit even before it was viewed by audiences'. Grant points out that success in one area does not guarantee success in another, and hubris often blinds perspective.
Adam addresses the question - what does it take to be an original and how truly original people actually behave? Grant systematically debunks so many myths that on hindsight seem to be embedded in our collective psyche. For example, the perception that innovators are blazing in their willingness to throw everything away in pursuit of their vision. That is not true at all. There is a fascinating story of Warby Parker, the online spectacle ordering company. The founders did everything that we imagine successful entrepreneurs would not do. They hung on to their day jobs till the last minute, procrastinated while building their website, were filled with self-doubt, were terrified of failing and did everything they could do to mitigate risks, so much so that Adam refused to invest in the company when offered a chance; a decision which he bitterly regretted.
As Grant puts it so succinctly: "...the inner experiences are not any different from our own. They feel the same fear, the same doubt, as the rest of us. What sets them apart is that they take action anyway. They know in their hearts that failing would yield less regret than failing to try." Grant (a former junior Olympic springboard diver and magician) also illustrates the importance of having artistic avocations that invariably spur innovation in other areas. Galileo's skills as an artist allowed him to discern mountains on the moon, whereas many of his scientific colleagues seeing the same exact assets/newet2015 saw no such lunar features.
There is a fascinating chapter on Groupthink and what it takes to foster a culture that sustains originality. He talks about Polaroid and Edward Land the only inventor after Edison to have so many path breaking inventions to his name. Polaroid failed because it failed to promote dissent. Research has proved that a surfeit of cohesiveness is not the reason that organisations succumb to Groupthink. Instead, a commitment to promote dissent is the vital element that separates a strong culture from a cult. Such a commitment is central to the way Ray Dalio runs Bridgewater, the hedge fund group that Grant has studied. Despite his admiration for Bridgewater's demanding principles based approach, Grant disagrees with Dalio who will not test his intuitions with experiments.
Grant shares around 30 practical actions for individuals to champion new ideas, for leaders to build cultures that welcome dissent and for parents and teachers to help children become comfortable taking a creative or moral stand against status quo. This book will only add to Grant's growing reputation as an original thinker and writer.
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