Key Takeaways from Originals
Last month I finished reading Originals by Adam Grant. I have enjoyed articles, TED talks and podcasts from Adam Grant for quite sometime, so I was happy to finally make time to sit down and read this book. The book is full of thought-provoking, inspiring and entertaining case studies that span various industries and moments in history. I particularly enjoyed the case study about stolen bases because it made me think of how much fun my family and I had watching Kenny Lofton stealing bases in the 90's. Aside from enjoying the case studies, there were several pieces of research that reinforced things I already practice or helped me re-frame how I will approach situations in the future. Here are my top five takeaways that I am hoping to leverage this year:
Leading with Your Limitations has Advantages
In this case study, Grant explains that when we are pitching new ideas or proposing a big change, audiences are likely to be skeptical. He explains that leading with your limitations has four key advantages: it disarms the audience, it makes you look smart, it makes you trustworthy and it leaves audiences with a favorable assessment. My team is often pursuing novel ways of approaching problems and questioning the status quo, I am hopeful that leveraging this technique will help us accelerate building trust with our peers and drive more original and productive thinking in how we deliver software.
Hiring for Cultural Contribution vs. Cultural Fit is Imperative, and Hard
Over the past two years, one of the key things I focused on as a leader was building a high performing team. In the early days of my team’s formation we had what Grant would describe as a commitment culture. We were a newly formed team with clear mission, attempting to do something our company had never done. As the team grew, I was very cognizant of groupthink and started hiring for cultural contribution vs. cultural fit. Hiring this way and striving to create a team that ‘welcomes dissent’ has been difficult, but has lead to a huge amount of transformation in our organization. Reading Grant’s chapter on groupthink was encouraging and a healthy reminder that; “once a market becomes dynamic, big [teams] with strong cultures are too insular: They have a hard time recognizing the need for change, and they’re more likely to resist the insights of those who think differently.”
Enemies Make Better Allies Than Frenemies
Midway through the book, Grant spends a solid chunk of time telling the story of Lucy Stone, one the great pioneers in the women’s suffrage movement. Using this case study, Grant explains how to think differently about navigating our relationships and explains the large impact that ambivalent relationships have on us. “In one study, having more ambivalent relationships predicted higher rates of stress, depression and dissatisfaction with life.” Reflecting back on the past year, I definitely fell into the trap believing that,“if someone is already resisting a change, the logic goes, there’s no point in wasting your time…” Time is precious and I am quite protective of it, setting intentional boundaries on where to invest my time, including time spent cultivating relationships. However, I can now see that this past year was full of a lot of stress, depression and dissatisfaction — and a plethora of ambivalent and inconsistent relationships. The good news is, Grant goes on to explain how we can rethink our relationships with our enemies and turn them into our greatest allies. I plan to use what I learned in this chapter to rethink how I prioritize my time and relationships in the coming year.
Venting Doesn’t Extinguish the Flame of Anger, it Feeds it
In the last chapter, Grant writes about how to manage anxiety, apathy, ambivalence and anger. I enjoyed this chapter and the case study about a swimmer who swam in the Arctic Sea, so much of this story made me think about how I manage emotion when it comes to cycling and running. And I learned a few practical tips for managing race day nerves. When it comes to the workplace, after reading this chapter I had to acknowledge that I frequently use venting as a tool in my toolkit to process a situation and formulate a plan on how to move forward. Through an interesting research study, Grant explains how venting leads to aggressive behavior and increased anger, and then gives practical advice on how to effectively channel anger in a healthier more productive way. I am convicted to be more aware of when I am venting and take action to change my behavior.
Only Exiting and Using Your Voice can Improve Your Circumstances
Early in the book, Grant illustrates the four responses to dissatisfaction: exit, voice, persistence and neglect, and explains how our level of commitment and control, as well as our relationship with our direct leader, influence how we will respond to dissatisfaction. As a leader, I was reminded of the important level of influence I can have in my teams response to dissatisfaction. As an individual, I realized I’ve spent quite a lot of time moving between persistence and neglect — which has lead to frustration when my circumstances don’t change. I was reminded that if I don’t take action, the status quo will persist and I have the power to improve my circumstances.
Here’s to embracing the uphill battles in 2021 and striving to create a better world.
