Quotes by Adam Grant

The more important argument against grade curves is that they create an atmosphere thats toxic by pitting students against one another. At best, it creates a hypercompetitive culture, and at worst, it sends students the message that the world is a zero-sum game: Your success means my failure.

Bragging about yourself violates norms of modesty and politeness - and if you were really competent, your work would speak for itself.

From a motivation perspective, helping others enriches the meaning and purpose of our own lives, showing us that our contributions matter and energizing us to work harder, longer, and smarter.

When people are depending on us, we end up finding strength we didnt know we had.

The culture of a workplace - an organizations values, norms and practices - has a huge impact on our happiness and success.

Complex tasks are often better handled in the back of our mind, and thats often true of creative tasks - when you have something complex to deal with in writing or research or responding to an email. Ill start working, put it aside, and sometimes Ill wake up the next morning with a solution, or Ill find one when I exercise.

Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence.

Instead of assuming that emotional intelligence is always useful, we need to think more carefully about where and when it matters.

As more women lean in and we collectively continue to fight sexism, theres another barrier to progress that hasnt been addressed: Many men who would like to see more women leaders are afraid to speak up about it.

Its ironic that when you go through a tragedy, you appreciate more. You realize how fragile life is and that there are so many things to still be thankful for.

The mark of higher education isnt the knowledge you accumulate in your head. Its the skills you gain about how to learn.

In the conversation about women in leadership, male voices are noticeably absent.

For women to achieve equal representation in leadership roles, its important that they have the backing of men as well as women.

If we want girls to receive positive reinforcement for early acts of leadership, lets discourage bossy behavior along with banning bossy labels. That means teaching girls to engage in behaviors that earn admiration before they assert their authority.

When medical students focus on helping others, theyre able to weather the slings and arrows of long hours and devastating health outcomes: they know their colleagues and patients are depending on them.

Takers believe in a zero-sum world, and they end up creating one where bosses, colleagues and clients dont trust them. Givers build deeper and broader relationships - people are rooting for them instead of gunning for them.

When a salesperson truly cares about you, trust forms, and youre more likely to buy, come back for repeat business, and refer new customers.

I have two rules for a great book: make me think and make me smile.

From a relationship perspective, givers build deeper and broader connections.

“After all, the purpose of learning isnt to affirm our beliefs; its to evolve our beliefs.”