GRANTED: The costs of convenience and the benefits of humility

March 2018

Wondering is going live. On April 24 in NYC, I’ll be doing a taping of my WorkLife podcast with Malcolm Gladwell. If you have big questions for us to answer about work, leave a voicemail here: (732) 800-8996.

Speaking of my podcast: thanks in no small part to your support, WorkLife spent a week this month as the #1 show on the Apple charts. If you like it, I’ll be grateful if you rate and review it—it helps people find us. The first five episodes are now out: they’re about learning to love criticism at Bridgewater, rapid creativity in The Daily Show writers’ room, the problem with stars in teams, the surprising flexibility of personality, and how astronauts build trust.

Without further ado, here are the articles that have fascinated me this month:

1. The Tyranny of Convenience
If your choices are always driven by what's easy, you'll miss out on the struggles that help give meaning to life. Let's not forget the joy of doing something slow and difficult.

2. An Effortless Way to Strengthen Your Memory
To improve your memory, go to a dark, quiet room and do nothing. A 10-minute break after learning improved recall by 10-30% for students, and more for stroke and Alzheimer's patients. We consolidate information during wakeful rest, not just during sleep.

3. Say Goodbye to the Information Age: It’s All About Reputation Now
The value of your knowledge hinges more and more on how much people trust you as a source of knowledge.

4. Punishing Women for Being Smart
A new experiment shows that when you submit identical resumes with high GPAs, a male candidate is almost 2x as likely to get called for an interview—and 3x if a STEM major. Recruiters value competence and commitment in men, but reject high-achieving women as "less likable." Ugh.

From My Desk:

5. People Don’t Actually Know Themselves Very Well
When a part of your personality is easy to observe or hard to admit, other people will see it more accurately than you do. We're better at gauging our own anxiety levels than our assertiveness, creativity, or intelligence.

6. Tapping into the Power of Humble Narcissism
To maintain humility, remember that you've made mistakes, you haven't succeeded alone, and what sets the best apart is that they're always striving to get better.

And if you’re a fan of life-changing behavioral science, check out The Ulysses Lab. They’ve already helped me figure out how to achieve my lifelong dream of replacing green vegetables with a daily dose of Cotton Candy Blizzards from Dairy Queen.

April Fools,
Adam

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