171 Quotes by Adam Grant

There's a fine line between heroic persistence and foolish stubbornness. Sometimes the best kind of grit is gritting our teeth and turning around

Rather than looking outward in an attempt to predict the outcome, you turn inward to your identity. You base the decision on who you are--or who you want to be.

To overcome fear, why does getting excited work better than trying to calm yourself down? Fear is an intense emotion. You can feel your heart pumping and your blood coursing. In that state, trying to relax is like slamming on the brakes when a car is going 80 miles per hour. The vehicle still has momentum. Rather than trying to suppress a strong emotion, it's easier to convert it into a different emotion - one that's equally intense, but propels is to step on the gas.

Having a sense of security in one realm gives us the freedom to be original in another.By covering our bases financially, we escape the pressure to publish half-baked books, sell shoddy art, or launch untested businesses.

Meyer summarizes his code of honor as "(1) Show up, (2) Work hard. (3) Be kind. (4) Take the high road.

The more reasons we put on the table, the easier it is for people to discard the shakiest one. Once they reject one of our justifications, they can easily dismiss our entire case. That happened regularly to the average negotiators: they brought too many different weapons to battle. They lost ground not because of the strength of their most compelling point, but because of the weakness of their least compelling one.

An employee made a mistake that cost the company $10 million, he walked into the office of Tom Watson, the C.E.O., expecting to get fired. “Fire you?” Mr. Watson asked. “I just spent $10 million educating you.

As pessoas muito bem-sucedidas apresentam três características em comum: motivação, capacidade e oportunidade. Para alcançar o sucesso, precisamos de combinar trabalho árduo, talento e sorte.

É mais fácil vencer quando todos querem que você vença. Quem não faz inimigos chega ao topo com mais facilidade. Randy Komisar