GRANTED: The wrong way to pursue popularity and the right way to innovate

July 2017

Last weekend I had the great honor of talking with Malala Yousafzai and Sheryl Sandberg about Option B in London.

Malala shared that on a visit to a mosque, an imam tried to forbid her from speaking in front of men. She responded: "If God did not want me to speak, he would not have given me a voice."

She reminds us that we all have a voice. Speaking up can give hope to the hopeless and power to the powerless.

Let's kick off the month with some of my favorite recent reads:

1. Are Smartphones Making Us Stupid?
Even if you’re not using it, just having your smartphone on your desk reduces working memory by 10% and fluid intelligence by 5%.

2. To Get Better at Managing Your Time, Borrow a Training Strategy From Elite Athletes
Instead of multitasking, try interval training: 45-90 minutes of focused work, followed by 10-15-minute breaks.

3. Are You Solving the Right Problems?
Before trying to solve a problem, ask whether there's a better problem to solve.

4. There's a Wrong Kind of Popularity and It Might Be Ruining Your Life
I think we should focus less on doing better than others, and more on making others better. Status is fleeting; likeability lasts.

From My Desk:

5. To Be a Disrupter, You Don’t Have to Be an Asshole
Uber, take note: Steve Jobs succeeded in spite of the way he treated others, not because of it.

6. Why We Shouldn't Value Speed Over Power
My chat with Malcolm Gladwell about why performance metrics tend to favor the hare, but often the best work comes from the tortoise.

Here are some of the questions you asked this month—click any question for my responses, plus my favorite resources on 8 other topics:

• When I’m interviewing for a job, what questions should I ask to figure out if I’ll fit in the organization?

• Is there a psychological explanation for gossip?

• How can I convince my colleagues to take ownership of our work?

Submit your own questions to wondering@adamgrant.net. Include your first name and city, or ask to be anonymous, and I'll pick a few next month to answer here.

Cheers,
Adam

Adam Grant, Ph.D.
Author of ORIGINALS and GIVE AND TAKE,
coauthor of OPTION B, and Wharton professor.

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