So this week (week ending 7/1/24), instead of reading Emergent Strategy like I said I would, I bought and read an entirely different book!
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant was finally 99p for Kindle on the evil river website (I will link to there whilst it’s still 99p and when the price goes back up, I’ll link to bookshop.org).
Now I’ve listened to enough episodes of If Books Could Kill to be wary of non fiction books, even by academics. But I think I’m on safe ground with Adam Grant, famously the youngest full professor at Wharton. Cal Newport raves about him (although I’ve also heard Newport talk favourably about Johann Hari so he’s not completely reliable….)
Anyway, back to Grant. There are references throughout the book and to proper sources, academic papers not blog articles. Now I of course haven’t gone and cross referenced the articles to check they are saying what Grant says they are saying (looking at you again Hari )
I particularly enjoyed his final chapter where he pulled out all the actionable learnings from each chapter. I’m really bad at taking notes and this chapter was a really good model for how I might want to take notes in the future.
Key learning was around how to direct your own learning when there is no one able or willing to teach you. How getting stuck means choosing a new route which may mean having to back up a little. And a new route isn’t destined to succeed so having to be brave if you really want that advancement
