Introduction:  

What if the key to intelligence wasn’t how much you know, but how often you're willing to change your mind? In Think Again, psychologist and Wharton professor Adam Grant makes the case that rethinking—shedding outdated assumptions and revisiting long-held beliefs—is one of the most critical skills we can develop in a fast-moving, ever-changing world.

Grant opens with a remarkable true story. In 1949, firefighter Wagner Dodge found himself and his crew cornered by a rapidly advancing wildfire. Instead of running, he did something counterintuitive. He lit a fire around himself, creating a patch of scorched earth with no fuel left to burn. Then he lay in the middle of it, covered his face, and waited. The wildfire swept past him—he survived. His team, unable to rethink their instinct to flee, tragically did not.

Dodge’s quick thinking and mental flexibility saved his life. And it’s that same mental flexibility that Grant explores in this book—a skill we can all learn and develop. This isn’t just about changing opinions; it’s about creating a mindset that values curiosity over conviction, humility over pride, and learning over certainty.

Part I: Rethinking as an Individual

Modes of Thinking: Preacher, Prosecutor, Politician… or Scientist?
We all slip into certain mental roles when defending our beliefs. Grant describes three common ones:

Preacher mode – defending sacred ideas, urging others to believe as we do.

Prosecutor mode – attacking opposing viewpoints, determined to prove others wrong.

Politician mode – seeking approval, swaying opinion to gain support.

The problem? These modes discourage introspection. They fuel the need to be right instead of the desire to understand.

Instead, Grant urges us to think like scientists. Scientists question their own assumptions, test their hypotheses, and revise their beliefs when presented with new evidence. Thinking like a scientist doesn’t mean abandoning conviction—but it does mean being open to being wrong, and excited about learning something better.

Confidence and Competence: Finding the Balance
Confidence is tricky. Too much, and we overestimate our abilities (the “armchair quarterback” syndrome). Too little, and we fall into impostor syndrome, doubting ourselves even when we're competent.

Surprisingly, Grant argues that impostor syndrome has advantages. It makes us more willing to learn, seek feedback, and adapt. Meanwhile, overconfident individuals often reject new ideas or feedback, clinging tightly to their own flawed assumptions.

The sweet spot is what Grant calls confident humility—a belief in our ability to reach a goal, paired with a willingness to revise our methods. It’s the mindset of saying, “I’m capable, but I might be wrong—and I’m open to learning.”

Learning to Love Being Wrong
Being wrong stings. But Grant suggests we reframe it as a sign of growth. After all, if you’re never wrong, you’re probably not learning much.

Enter the “totalitarian ego”—a psychological mechanism that defends our identity by rejecting contradictory information. The most successful people, Grant says, learn to separate their opinions from their identity and their past self from their current self.

Investor Ray Dalio famously said, “If you’re not looking back at your past self and thinking, ‘Wow, how wrong I was,’ then you’re probably not learning enough.” People like Dalio update their beliefs constantly—because they’re more afraid of being wrong in the long run than they are of admitting it in the short term.

Part II: Rethinking with Others

Productive Conflict: Turning Disagreement Into Progress
Not all conflict is bad. Grant distinguishes between:

• Relationship conflict – emotional, personal, and destructive.
• Task conflict – focused on ideas, strategies, and outcomes.

High-performing teams embrace task conflict. They challenge each other’s thinking, debate ideas rigorously, and reach stronger conclusions as a result. The key is psychological safety—the freedom to speak up without fear of ridicule or punishment.

A simple way to encourage healthy conflict? Reframe disagreements as debates. Asking, “Can we debate this?” signals openness to other viewpoints and creates space for rethinking.

Winning Minds, Not Arguments
Getting others to change their minds is one of the hardest challenges in communication. Grant draws from negotiation research by Neil Rackham, who studied how expert negotiators differ from average ones.

Here’s what the best do differently:

• They find common ground early. They spend time identifying shared goals.
• They focus on fewer, stronger arguments. More points often dilute the impact.
• They avoid defend-attack spirals. Instead of rebuttals, they ask thoughtful questions.
• They listen more. At least one in five of their statements is a question.
• They acknowledge emotions. They’re aware of their own feelings and those of others.

These techniques foster trust, invite collaboration, and make the other person feel respected—creating the emotional conditions needed for genuine rethinking.

Destabilising Stereotypes Through Empathy
Stereotypes are often inherited, rarely questioned. Grant suggests that the most effective way to challenge them is through counterfactual thinking—imagining how things could be different.

Ask someone, “What if you’d been born into a different race, religion, or economic background?” Questions like these reveal how arbitrary many of our assumptions are—and how easily our beliefs could be different under different circumstances.

By encouraging people to step into another person’s shoes, even hypothetically, we begin to weaken the rigid categories that fuel prejudice.

The Power of Listening
In the fight against vaccine hesitancy, traditional persuasion hasn’t worked. What has? Empathetic listening.

Grant highlights motivational interviewing—a technique from behavioural science that involves:

• Asking open-ended questions
• Practising reflective listening
• Affirming the person’s ability to change

Rather than telling someone what to think, you help them surface their own reasons for rethinking. The best persuaders, it turns out, don’t argue forcefully—they listen generously.

Part III: Rethinking as a Collective

Beyond Black and White Thinking
We live in a polarised world. Grant identifies binary bias—our tendency to simplify issues into two opposing sides—as a major barrier to constructive dialogue.

Take climate change. When the debate is framed as “science vs. denial,” it alienates those in the middle who are curious but uncertain. The better approach? Complexify. Show the range of perspectives, acknowledge uncertainties, and avoid absolutes.

Adding nuance makes people feel less defensive—and more likely to engage.

Rethinking Education
The traditional education model centres on lectures: teachers speak, students listen. But this passive model is outdated in a world that demands critical thinking and adaptability.

Grant advocates for active learning—encouraging students to question what they learn, explore different viewpoints, and even challenge their instructors.

At Wharton, he assigns students the task of questioning best practices. One memorable outcome? “Passion talk day,” where students give presentations on a topic they care about deeply. It fosters curiosity, courage, and a mindset of lifelong questioning.

Rethinking at Work: Building a Learning Culture
Rethinking isn’t just an individual or academic exercise—it’s vital for businesses, too.

In performance cultures, employees are rewarded for doing things the “right” way. But in learning cultures, they’re encouraged to find better ways.

To build this kind of culture:

Create psychological safety. People must feel safe to admit mistakes and propose new ideas.

Promote accountability. Ask “How do you know?” to challenge assumptions and drive innovation.

Together, these two ingredients create an environment where rethinking is not only allowed—but expected.

Conclusion

In a world that’s changing faster than ever, the ability to rethink may be the most valuable skill of all. Adam Grant’s Think Again is a powerful guide to help us question outdated beliefs, embrace humility, and make intellectual flexibility part of our identity.

True wisdom isn’t about always being right—it’s about recognising when we’re wrong, learning from it, and having the courage to change course.