Adam Grant's #1 phrase to unlock potential
In this week's Big Think Class, Wharton professor Adam Grant shares how to give feedback that will actually help others reach their full potential.
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Introducing our latest Big Think Class.
Unlocking your team’s hidden potential with Adam Grant
Wharton professor and organizational psychologist Adam Grant argues it’s time to stop obsessing over “natural talent.” He grew up feeling like he wasn’t especially good at anything — and that experience shaped a more hopeful message: where you start doesn’t determine where you can end up with solid guidance and practice.
In this class, Grant shares a better alternative: focus on potential, not polish. He suggests leaders actively look for early signs of growth, give people the guidance and practice they need to improve, and use a simple, motivating phrase that helps team members rise to the challenge and perform at their best.
Learning objectives:
Break up patterns of groupthink in favor of fresh perspectives.
Model psychological safety while coaching others to reach their potential.
Frame feedback productively so it’s positively received and beneficial.
Focus your hiring process on the potential for culture contribution and learning.
Identify and nurture those capable of both abstract and concrete thinking.
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Remember the very first time you rode a bike? Did it suggest you’d be a part of the Tour de France soon? Probably not. But, with the right guidance as you practiced, your skill level a week, a month, or a year later was likely higher than that first day. In other words, you had potential that your initial performance didn’t show.
When people talk about group projects in school, they often lament how the “smartest” person did all the work and everyone else contributed nothing or just went along with the leader (assuming they must know best). But that’s no way to live in the workplace, especially when it comes to developing people’s potential.
It’s nice when your mom tells you how good you are at everything and that you’re already the best. But is it useful (or true)? Likewise, it’s helpful when your boss points out what you’re doing wrong, but if that’s all they do, it doesn’t feel great and can negatively impact the confidence you need to do your job and grow.
Sandwiches are a classic lunch staple around any office — ham sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly! But the workplace also often serves the “feedback sandwich,” when a supervisor puts constructive criticism between two slices of praise, trying to cushion “negative” feedback. According to organizational psychologist Adam Grant, that sandwich isn’t as delicious or nourishing as people may think.
Timing is everything, especially when it comes to giving feedback. If constructive criticism is delivered weeks or months after the fact, it can hit more negatively — like a surprise final verdict. But if it’s delivered in the moment, according to organizational psychologist Adam Grant, it can be heard as coaching or advice for how the receiver can adjust accordingly moving forward.
In a scene from Monty Python’s film Life of Brian, the title character stands above a crowd and shouts, “You’ve got to think for yourselves! You’re all individuals!” The crowd replies in unison, “Yes, we’re all individuals.” He sighs and says, “You are all different,” and the crowd chants, “Yes, we’re all different!” Except one man, who mutters, “I’m not.”
You have an opening at your organization. Do you fill it with a candidate who’s done the role for a decade (but not much else) or one with only a year in the role but a background of success in multiple other areas?
“They’re a ‘big picture’ person” or “They’re our detail person” are descriptors that serve as code for whether someone is an abstract or concrete thinker. Every team needs both to get the job done. But organizational psychologist Adam Grant proposes the highest-potential team members are those capable of both zooming out and zooming in, the ones who can dream up blue-sky product features and break down budget specifics.
Would you rather spend the night in a haunted house or tell your boss what their weaknesses are? Both are terrifying options for many — especially if their workplace lacks psychological safety.
Albert Einstein is credited with saying, “When we all think alike, no one thinks very much,” which perfectly captures the danger of groupthink. In fact, organizational psychologist Adam Grant argues that groupthink can be an organization’s downfall, as it leaves very little room for innovation and creativity — and thus little room for growth.