Listening is key to communicating that care and respect. Grant reminds us that if our goal is to create change, growth, learning, and liberation, we must communicate care and respect. As J Smooth points out in this video, this isn’t effective. Is being a Christian (or Buddhist or any religion) a label or identity you claim or how you live your life (often imperfectly)? However, when we see people we disagree with, we often lose sight of challenging their behavior and challenge their identity – the essence of who they are. Similarly, being an aspiring ally is not about and identity or label you wear but the actions you take and continue to take. Like fighting an addiction, being an antiracist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination. We can knowingly strive to be an antiracist. We can unknowingly strive to be a racist. We can only strive to be one or the other. “Racist” and “antiracist” are like peelable name tags that are placed and replaced based on what someone is doing or not doing, supporting or expressing in each moment. An antiracist is someone who is supporting an antiracist policy by their actions or expressing an antiracist idea. Many of us with knowledge of social justice know that racism isn’t about identity but someone’s actions.Ī racist is someone who is supporting a racist policy by their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea. Grant reminds us to differentiate identity from action. We might be educators helping others learn, want to garner support for an initiative that could help many, or trying to create social change. Many of us genuinely want to change others’ minds for good reasons. A conflict between two romantic partners can slip from how to navigate the kids’ competing schedules (task conflict) to which parent is more competent and caring (relationship conflict). This isn’t just about the context but also how we engage in the conflict. He points out that relationship conflicts are often difficult, toxic, and obstacles to moving forward, while task conflicts foster new learning, insight, problem solving, and innovation. Task conflict is about the problem, challenge, or situation. Relationship conflict is about the people involved who is right, smart, moral, caring, competent, etc. One of the most helpful insights from Think Again for me was Grant’s distinction between relationship conflict and task conflict. A politician tries to win the approval of their audience. A prosecutor tries to prove others are wrong. A preacher tries to convince others they are right. Grant contrasts thinking like a scientist with patterns we often fall into preacher, prosecutor, or politician. A scientist has questions, considers the evidence, holds any assumptions loosely, and tests those assumptions out. Grant’s central recommendation to thinking again is to think like a scientist. This might include recognizing the faults in lessons we have learned coming from poor sources, new evidence, past hurts, or our own internalized socialization. Unlearning includes letting go of past perspectives. Rethinking includes changing our minds, shifting our perspective, considering new information, and being willing to come to a different conclusion, solution, or point of view. The two keys to thinking again are rethinking and unlearning. Here are five of my lessons from reading Think Again by Adam Grant. I appreciated the implications for addressing entrenched and polarizing partisanship, addressing systemic oppression, education and learning, and organizational leadership. Think Again focuses on the need to follow the evidence, be willing to change our minds, and how to help others do the same. Blog, Coaching, Leadership, Positive Psychology, Social Justice EducationĪdam Grant is an organizational psychologist with a clear and personable writing style.
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