Book Club: Think Again

You have to read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant. We all think our minds are open, but we’re wrong. Intelligence is nice, but the critical skills are rethinking, relearning, and the courage to dump baggage. The Dunning-Kruger effect is real – the people with the most confidence in their knowledge in an area usually have the least knowledge. We all need to get off “Mount Stupid”, stop promoting our ideas like preachers, and act like scientists – ask questions. We need to overcome the discomfort and embrace the experience of being wrong – it’s how we learn and progress. Acknowledging mistakes boosts our credibility. He relates the dangers of “idea cults” — oversimplified intellectual Kool-Aid – that is endemic in health policy.  The book has tons of great examples including medical error reporting and vaccine hesitancy. The book ends with 30 practical takeways to open our minds and others’. I’ll be re-reading this soon.