{"id":129998,"date":"2024-10-07T08:29:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T12:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=129998"},"modified":"2024-10-07T11:34:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T15:34:16","slug":"hidden-potential-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hidden-potential-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Potential: Book Overview &#038; Takeaways (Adam Grant)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Are geniuses born with their gifts? What&#8217;s the book <em>Hidden Potential<\/em> about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A common assumption is that talent is something that you&#8217;re born with. However, Adam Grant&#8217;s book <em>Hidden Potential<\/em> says that you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/tap-into-your-potential\/\">tap into your potential<\/a> by building your skills and connecting with other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read below for a brief <em>Hidden Potential<\/em> book overview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-overview-of-hidden-potential\"><strong>Overview of <em>Hidden Potential<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>People often assume that to accomplish something truly great, you must be one of a few \u201cgifted\u201d geniuses born with extraordinary talent. However, psychologist Adam Grant argues in his book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/719611\/hidden-potential-by-adam-grant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Hidden Potential<\/em><\/a> that the world\u2019s top performers weren\u2019t extraordinary geniuses from birth; rather, they built their skills over time using the right techniques. The capacity to achieve isn\u2019t rare\u2014<strong>everyone has more potential to accomplish great things than they think they do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant is an organizational psychologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton School. He\u2019s written a number of best-selling books exploring the secrets to living a rewarding and creative professional life, including <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/give-and-take\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Give and Take<\/em><\/a>, which is about the power of generosity in the workplace, and <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/originals\/1-page-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Originals<\/em><\/a>, which is about how to generate and act upon contrarian, world-changing ideas. He also hosts the podcasts <a href=\"https:\/\/adamgrant.net\/podcasts\/rethinking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Re:Thinking<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/adamgrant.net\/podcasts\/work-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>WorkLife<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-tap-into-your-potential\"><strong>How to Tap Into Your Potential<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant contends that to accomplish great things, you need to spend a lot of time honing your skills by engaging in <em>fun, yet uncomfortable practice<\/em>. Let\u2019s explore this idea more deeply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-learning-should-be-fun\"><strong>Learning Should Be Fun<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Grant, to maximize your potential, you need to cultivate the passion and playfulness required to <em>have fun<\/em> while building your skills. Why? Because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-become-a-master\/\">becoming a master<\/a> at anything requires you to devote countless hours of your life to practice. <strong>If you don\u2019t enjoy yourself while practicing, at some point you\u2019ll get burnt out and lose the energy and motivation to continue toward your goals.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant offers two ways to make your practice more fun. First, <strong>find a way to add variety to your routine.<\/strong> It\u2019ll be much harder for you to get bored or become demotivated if you free yourself to switch between several kinds of practice in a given session. Frequently varying your practice also increases your ability to retain what you learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, <strong>find a way to track your performance and compare it to what you\u2019ve done in the past.<\/strong> Invent rules for tracking your \u201cpoints\u201d and constantly seek to beat your high score. The pressure to \u201cwin\u201d motivates you to focus and try your best during practice, accelerating your learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant explains that to add enough variety and exciting performance-tracking to your practice, you\u2019ll typically need to completely reimagine your practice routine. For example, say you\u2019re trying to get better at delivering presentations at work. Instead of repeatedly practicing in the mirror, you might decide to alternate between three kinds of practice:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To improve your speaking skills, you read the scripts of TED Talks aloud and make as few mistakes as possible.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To get better at organizing persuasive arguments, you start a competitive debate club with your friends and see how many debates you can win.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To boost your confidence, you go out to bars or events and see how many strangers you can talk to in one night.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-learning-should-be-uncomfortable\"><strong>Learning Should Be Uncomfortable<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Just because you learn more when you\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/have-more-fun\/\">having fun<\/a> doesn\u2019t mean that the path to your full potential will be a walk in the park. Grant notes that<strong> the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/effective-learning\/\">effective learning<\/a> is fun, but it\u2019s also <\/strong><strong><em>uncomfortable<\/em><\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He contends that <strong>the number one determinant of whether someone reaches their full potential is their ability to <\/strong><strong><em>stay focused on their goals when it\u2019s uncomfortable to do so<\/em><\/strong><em>. <\/em>If you focus on strengthening this ability, it\u2019ll pay off more than any other skills or expertise. This is because uncomfortable obstacles are inevitable on the path to any major goal. Without this skill, you\u2019ll give up as soon as you encounter these obstacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, starting a business is a difficult, uncomfortable process, but if you care about your goal of providing for yourself and your loved ones, you\u2019ll be able to push through this discomfort and eventually succeed. In contrast, if you don\u2019t know how to tolerate this discomfort, you might endlessly procrastinate instead of taking action to launch your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant breaks down the practice of staying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-focus-on-your-goals\/\">focused on your goals<\/a> into strategies for coping with the three distinct forms of discomfort on the path to mastery. Let\u2019s discuss these kinds of discomfort and explain how to overcome them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-discomfort-1-making-mistakes\">Discomfort #1: Making Mistakes<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The first kind of discomfort you must overcome to stay focused on your goals is <em>making painful mistakes<\/em>, argues Grant. Most learners do whatever they can to avoid awkward, uncomfortable failures when acquiring a new skill. However, doing so sets them up for inevitable failure. Why? <strong>To learn anything, you have to practice it before you\u2019re good at it.<\/strong> This is naturally uncomfortable and sometimes downright embarrassing, so most learners avoid this kind of practice. They prepare indefinitely or try to teach themselves solely through abstract theory, in hopes that they can become competent without trying and failing along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, Grant recommends taking the opposite approach. <strong>Put your skills into practice as soon as possible:<\/strong> The very first day you start learning how to do something, try your best to successfully do it. When you inevitably make mistakes, take each one as an opportunity to learn what you\u2019re doing wrong. Make it a habit to expand the most uncomfortable parts of your training\u2014the parts where you make the most mistakes\u2014rather than minimize or avoid them. For example, if you\u2019re learning how to draw and feel embarrassed because the faces and hands you draw always look bad, challenge yourself by drawing <em>more<\/em> faces and hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, the more mistakes you make and learn from, the more comfortable you\u2019ll become with making further mistakes. If you can connect your feelings of discomfort to the knowledge that you\u2019re making progress, <strong>you\u2019ll discover that the effort you\u2019re putting in is satisfying in itself<\/strong>, even if it continuously results in awkwardness and failure. This mindset is called <em>learned industriousness<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-discomfort-2-acknowledging-your-flaws\">Discomfort #2: Acknowledging Your Flaws<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The second kind of discomfort you must overcome to stay focused on your goals is <em>acknowledging your flaws<\/em>. Grant explains that many people suffer from perfectionism, which counterintuitively prevents them from doing their best work. <strong>When you aim to create flawless work, you exhaust yourself trying to fix unimportant problems that don\u2019t need to be fixed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perfectionism also causes you to emotionally punish yourself for your mistakes. This self-flagellation makes you more afraid of making mistakes, which in turn teaches you to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/avoid-mistakes\/\">avoid mistakes<\/a> rather than learn from them. As we\u2019ve discussed, trying to avoid mistakes is one of the most common ways people stunt their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-grow-as-a-person\/\">personal growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant argues that perfection shouldn\u2019t be your ultimate goal. It\u2019s impossible to create perfect work, he says. Once you embrace this fact, you can direct your efforts strategically rather than putting maximum effort into everything. <strong>Focus on improving the aspects of your work that will have the greatest impact on its overall quality, and let go of everything else.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your work doesn\u2019t need to be perfect to be groundbreaking; it just needs to have some excellent qualities. For instance, when Apple first launched the iPhone in 2007, <a href=\"https:\/\/techjourneyman.com\/blog\/iphone-15-year-anniversary-retrospective\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">critics derided it for being far too expensive and locked onto AT&amp;T\u2019s slow 2G network<\/a>. If Apple had obsessed over optimizing their supply chain to lower the price of the iPhone, or tried to build their own perfect cellular network, they might have wasted millions of dollars chasing these unnecessary and potentially impossible goals. Instead, the iPhone\u2019s user-friendly touchscreen, multitude of functions, and sleekly designed software were excellent enough for it to <a href=\"https:\/\/appleinsider.com\/articles\/18\/06\/29\/the-story-of-the-original-iphone-that-nobody-thought-was-possible\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sell six million units in its first year<\/a> and revolutionize the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/smartphone-market\/\">smartphone industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-discomfort-3-proving-yourself-wrong\">Discomfort #3: Proving Yourself Wrong<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The third kind of discomfort you must overcome to stay focused on your goals is <em>proving yourself wrong<\/em>. Grant contends that <strong>to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-reach-your-full-potential\/\">reach your full potential<\/a>, you have to actively seek out errors in your thinking and identify aspects of your work that you could do better.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To do this, first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-responsibility\/\">take responsibility<\/a> for your own growth<\/strong>, advises Grant. Many people don\u2019t bother trying to learn how to improve\u2014when they want to do something, they wait for someone else to show them how to do it. If you want to tap into your potential, this isn\u2019t good enough. Aim to educate yourself rather than passively accept whatever information you happen to encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To further discover how to improve at a task, become comfortable with humility<\/strong>, recommends Grant. Even when someone is actively trying to get better, they\u2019ll often make the mistake of reflexively denying or ignoring information that challenges their ego. Learning that you\u2019re totally wrong about something can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/be-uncomfortable\/\">be uncomfortable<\/a> and embarrassing, but it\u2019s a necessary step if you want to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Grant, the best way to prove yourself wrong is by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-get-advice\/\">getting advice<\/a> from experts who know more than you about what you\u2019re trying to do\u2014a strategy we\u2019ll discuss in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-other-people-can-tap-into-your-potentia-l\"><strong>How Other People Can Tap Into Your Potentia<\/strong>l<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, we\u2019ve explored various ways that fun yet uncomfortable training can fuel your personal growth. That said, however you optimize your training, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/reach-your-potential\/\">reaching your full potential<\/a> is much more difficult when you try to do it alone<\/strong>. Grant explains that other people can assist your personal growth by giving you guidance, inspiring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-sense-of-purpose\/\">a sense of purpose<\/a> in you, and working with you as a team. Let\u2019s explore these three benefits in more detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-benefit-1-guidance\"><strong>Benefit #1: Guidance<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant notes that <strong>your ability to teach yourself has limits.<\/strong> Often, you\u2019ll need guidance from others, especially if you\u2019re trying to learn to do something complex where \u201csuccess\u201d is subjective, like composing a symphony or starting a political career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure that the advice you receive will actually help you, <strong>choose your guides carefully.<\/strong> Find someone who knows what they\u2019re talking about, is familiar enough with you and your work to give an accurate assessment, and truly wants you to succeed. Otherwise, you could end up with bad advice, advice that doesn\u2019t fit you, or advice that isn\u2019t intended to be helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-benefit-2-purpose\"><strong>Benefit #2: Purpose<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Another way that others can help you reach your full potential is by giving you a motivating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/having-a-purpose-in-life\/\">sense of purpose<\/a>, according to Grant. <strong>When you feel like someone else is relying on you to achieve something, you can reframe the situation in a way that gives you strength.<\/strong> Instead of second-guessing your skills and worrying about the possibility of failure, you resolve to try your best, no matter what. Ultimately, this will help you do better work. For example, an entrepreneur will find it easier to put their heart in their business if they believe doing so will help them provide enough money for their children to go to any college they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, Grant contends that <strong>when someone <em>doubts<\/em> your ability to accomplish something, the desire to prove them wrong can also be a powerful source of motivation.<\/strong> As long as you don\u2019t let them undermine your confidence, you\u2019ll naturally put in more effort and perform better than if there hadn\u2019t been naysayers at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-benefit-3-teamwork\"><strong>Benefit #3: Teamwork<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, <em>being on a team<\/em> can help you reach your full potential, argues Grant. In a team that\u2019s centered on a unifying goal, everyone can help the other members by teaching skills in their particular area of expertise. When you\u2019re on a team like this, you not only learn from a variety of skilled people but also <strong>enhance your skills by teaching others. <\/strong>When you explain something to someone else, you re-examine and reinforce your understanding of it, leading to significant personal growth.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, teaching someone <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-achieve\/\">how to achieve<\/a> something makes you feel more capable of achieving your own goals. When you successfully teach someone, it\u2019s proof that you know what you\u2019re doing, and internalizing this proof helps you feel more confident. Research even shows that giving encouraging advice is more motivating than receiving such encouragement from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-organizations-can-tap-into-their-potential\"><strong>How Organizations Can Tap Into Their Potential<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, we&#8217;ve discussed how each of us can reach our full potential through smart practice and by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-connect-with-people\/\">connecting with others<\/a>. We\u2019ll conclude this guide by exploring what organizations can do to achieve more on a larger scale. Here are two tips that organizations can use to identify and utilize all their workers\u2019 potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tip-1-encourage-good-ideas-from-everyone-in-the-organization\"><strong>Tip #1: Encourage Good Ideas From Everyone in the Organization<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant argues that if organizations want to achieve the best results, <strong>they need to encourage and empower all their employees to <\/strong><strong><em>share their best ideas<\/em><\/strong><strong> with workers who can act on them<\/strong>. In most organizations, however, this doesn\u2019t happen. When an employee suggests a way to improve the organization, their boss will typically ignore it. Why? They may feel threatened by the idea that their subordinate could offer better ideas than them. Alternatively, they may worry that if the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-good-ideas-fail\/\">idea fails<\/a>, they\u2019ll be held responsible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To fix this problem, Grant proposes a system where employees can freely share ideas with multiple leaders across the organization, increasing the odds that someone will approve and implement those ideas. In this system, <strong>even if many high-ranking managers reject your idea, all it takes is one \u201cyes\u201d to get your idea tested and implemented.<\/strong> Consequently, the organization acts on many more valuable ideas, allowing it to rapidly innovate and improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tip-2-hire-on-the-basis-of-potential-not-superficial-success\"><strong>Tip #2: Hire on the Basis of Potential, Not Superficial Success<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant contends that when organizations are hiring, they often overlook the applicants with the most potential to help them achieve their goals. This happens for two reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, <strong>organizations typically place too much value on prestigious college degrees<\/strong>, which Grant suggests are poor predictors of future performance. Studies show that on a technical level, there are few differences between the work done by graduates of elite universities and the work done by graduates of less prestigious ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, job postings that require college degrees exclude large segments of the workforce. Many people gain valuable, employable skills outside of college. For instance, they might learn directly from experts or teach themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, Grant argues that <strong>organizations often make the mistake of judging candidates solely by their prior work experience<\/strong>: how long they\u2019ve worked a similar job or how well they did at that job. However, this experience doesn\u2019t necessarily translate to success in a new role\u2014the years someone has worked don\u2019t prove that they learned anything during that time. Additionally, you can only judge candidates by the quality of their past work if you\u2019re hiring them for a job that requires those exact same skills. Often, organizations falsely assume that if an applicant did well in their previous job, they\u2019ll similarly thrive in <em>any <\/em>job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are geniuses born with their gifts? What&#8217;s the book Hidden Potential about? A common assumption is that talent is something that you&#8217;re born with. However, Adam Grant&#8217;s book Hidden Potential says that you can tap into your potential by building your skills and connecting with other people. Read below for a brief Hidden Potential book overview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":131254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,42,43],"tags":[1588],"class_list":["post-129998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-motivation","category-self-improvement","tag-hidden-potential","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hidden Potential: Book Overview &amp; Takeaways (Adam Grant) - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his book Hidden Potential, Adam Grant explains how to tap into the potential for greatness you may not even know you have. 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