More than 100 Italian startup founders were randomly divided into two groups. Both groups completed the same four-month entrepreneurship training program. After one year, the control group had an average revenue of just under $300. The other group had over 12,000.
There was one key difference. The second group was taught to view their own business through “a scientist’s lens.”
Adam Grant shows that four modes of thinking battle for control inside our minds. Three of them hold us back.
1. Three modes that fight for control of our minds
The Preacher. This mode kicks in when someone challenges beliefs close to our hearts. We then deliver sermons in defense of our ideals. And for the Preacher, changing one’s mind is proof of moral weakness.
The Prosecutor. This mode kicks in when we spot flaws in others’ reasoning. We gather arguments to refute our opponent’s claims and win. We pour a lot of energy into changing someone else’s mind. We don’t budge from our own.
Politician. This mode kicks in when we’re seeking the audience’s applause. We campaign among our “constituents”: parents, supervisors, and friends. We say what they want to hear and ignore inconvenient facts.
2. Fourth mode: scientist
“In scientific thinking, pride takes a back seat to humility; doubt plays a greater role than certainty; and curiosity takes precedence over the need to close out a topic.”
Being a scientist is not so much a profession as a way of thinking. You treat your own strategy as a hypothesis to be tested, not as a truth to be defended. This is exactly how the Milan-based startup founders were trained: conversations with customers served to refine the hypothesis, and the prototype tested its validity.
3. That’s Why Those Startup Founders Won
The founders in the control group stubbornly clung to their original strategies. Like preachers, they emphasized the correctness of their earlier decisions; like prosecutors, they pointed out the flaws in alternative solutions; and like politicians, they chose advisors who supported their current course. Those in the “scientific” group changed their minds more than twice as often. Did the hypothesis fail to hold up? We change the model and keep testing.
4. That’s Why Top Students Rarely Succeed in Business
Because school rewards thinking according to predefined patterns. A classic study: the most creative among renowned architects received only “good” grades in school. Their peers with straight A’s were so eager to complete every task correctly that they never deviated from the template. “Future visionaries are by no means recruited from among the top students in their class.”
5. Humble Confidence
This is a concept that features prominently in Grant’s work. The author notes that the key is to believe in one’s own abilities while simultaneously acknowledging that we may not know the right solution—or that we might be tackling the wrong problem. This mindset is closest to the scientific method. And it pays off: people who are both humble and self-assured perform best in leadership roles. And the more often someone doubted their own competence, the better evaluations they later received from their superiors.
“Humility is like a sieve. Life experiences that pass through it are then transformed into knowledge and wisdom. Arrogance is like a rubber shield from which life experiences simply bounce off.”
Another book in the “open mind” genre. It sheds light on what was previously invisible.
Adam Grant, The Lazy Mind: Why It Pays to Constantly Reevaluate Your Views and Decisions.
I came across this book thanks to a recommendation from kowalskijanpl
Thanks!
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Original post: https://x.com/WojciechBokina/status/2083448288427016457