Adam Grant biography, quotes, and books
Adam Grant (1981) works as an organizational psychologist who uses research findings about work and motivation and behavioral patterns to create useful knowledge for practice. His concepts apply to everyday life because they describe common experiences which include how people remain trapped in their routines and how teams fail to understand each other and how professionals seek development but lack direction. Grant demonstrates the concept through specific examples which demonstrate how individual behavioral decisions lead to major effects on work performance and team work and employee contentment.
The following article contains information about Adam Grant which includes his educational history and his main accomplishments and his main research interests throughout his career. The following section provides an overview of his published works which include Think Again and Give and Take and Originals along with essential quotes that explain his main concepts. This will give you a quick foundation so you can immediately apply his insights to your own work and development. Enjoy reading!
Who is Adam Grant?His biography
Adam Grant entered the world on August 13, 1981 in West Bloomfield which is a charter township located in Oakland County of Michigan. He spent his childhood in the Detroit Michigan suburban area. His father practiced law while his mother worked as an educator at a school.
During his early years Adam Grant spent his time playing basketball and performing springboard diving. During his high school years, in 1999, he was named an All-American in diving. This is an annual honor given to an outstanding athlete from the United States who is considered one of the best athletes in their sport.
In an interview for Wharton Magazine, Adam Grant described himself as an introvert and a former conformist. “I followed every rule,” he said. The principal summoned me to his office during my elementary school years while I wept throughout the meeting. Even though I wasn’t in trouble, just the idea of going there was like I had done something terribly wrong. In high school and college, I was terrified of being in a room with a minor who was drinking alcohol. ”
Academic career
Adam Grant earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College where he graduated magna cum laude and received Phi Beta Kappa honors. This was followed by his master’s degree and Ph.D. in organizational psychology at the University of Michigan, which he completed in less than three years.
Adam Grant pursued his education while working as a professional magician until he finished his studies at Let’s Go Publications where he became the manager of the year before his graduation. In 2007, Adam Grant began his academic career as an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In an interview for The Times of India, Adam Grant said, “If I hadn’t performed as a magician, I might never have become a lecturer.” Through his magician performances he learned to defeat his shyness while mastering the art of surprising his viewers which he applies to his current teaching methods.
He started his academic work at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania as an associate professor when he joined the institution in 2009. He was recognized as Wharton’s top-rated professor for seven consecutive years (2011-2017) and, at only 28 years old, was the youngest professor ever to receive tenure.
Other achievements
Adam Grant produces articles for the New York Times which focus on workplace subjects and psychological studies. The New York Times published the most popular article about languishing during 2021 which also became the leading saved article across all digital platforms.
Adam Grant has written six books which include multiple bestsellers. His books have reached millions of readers and Amazon together with Apple and the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal have awarded them their annual best book awards.
Adam Grant has gained recognition as a speaker through his TED presentations which focus on languishing and original thinkers and givers and takers. The videos have reached over 35 million views while Adam earned a standing ovation for his TED Talk presentation about original thinkers’ unexpected behaviors. These videos have gained more than 35 million views while Adam received a standing ovation for his TED Talk presentation about original thinkers’ unexpected behaviors.
Google together with the NBA and Bridgewater and the Gates Foundation function as Grant’s clients whom he serves through his speaking and consulting services. Adam serves as the host of the TED podcast Re:Thinking and the podcast WorkLife. These have been downloaded more than 70 million times.
Thinkers50 awarded Adam Grant the second position for worldwide management thinker influence during 2023. He is also ranked among the top 40 best business professors under 40 and in Fortune’s “40 under 40.”Grant was also a member of the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board, and in 2015, Adam Grant was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
What is he known for?
People actively search for him because Adam Grant explains complex workplace matters in an easily comprehensible way. The five elements to consider when thinking about collaboration and motivation and feedback and beliefs and performance. His scientific research data transformation work creates understandable examples which enable people to connect scientific knowledge to their everyday activities. The assessment gives you particular terms to explain your present circumstances and new methods which will enhance your work performance during the next day.
Giving and taking at work
Much of his fame comes from his idea about “givers” and “takers”. The author of Give and Take demonstrates in his book that people decide between helping others and seeking their own benefits because these actions determine their relationships with others and their success in life. This is popular because it provides a simple framework for a complex problem. The success of cooperation depends on particular conditions which allow its achievement yet different circumstances block its progress. The situation depends on three main factors which include the practice of giving and taking and the established rules and personal limits.
He also nuances this. The practice of giving fails because I always accept things that others want to give me. The most effective way to give involves strategic giving practices which should not exceed established boundaries. The system delivers functional advantages which benefit teams together with their leadership systems and their network organizations.
Originality and breaking through groupthink
He is also known for his views on innovators. In the book Originals, Adam Grant shows that original thinkers are not necessarily reckless. They make strategic decisions before taking any action. They test ideas. They gather feedback. They establish backing before they make their major move.
The search for this item follows a path which I have encountered before. What methods exist which enable innovation while protecting all existing assets? His message demonstrates that new creation emerges through a process of time rather than by instantly revealing all its aspects.
Rethinking and daring to change your mind
Adam Grant struck a chord with his book Think Again. People defend their beliefs through work activities and argumentation as if their personal identity rested on these matters. He turns that around. The ability to argue effectively does not alone define what it means to be intelligent. Being smart is also about being able to revise your position in time.
His research findings create value for all situations which require team meetings and performance assessments and strategic choice processes. Working hypotheses status of beliefs allows people to maintain flexible positions. The process of learning becomes simpler through this method which produces improved decision outcomes.
Developing potential without the talent myth
The book Hidden Potential teaches readers to build their abilities rather than depending on their innate abilities. It is not only those who start the fastest, but those who learn the smartest who often go the furthest. He explains that our success depends on environmental elements and our regular activities and the backing we receive from others. This appeals to many people because it is more hopeful and realistic than “you either have it or you don’t.”
Known from podcasts and TED
In addition to books, Adam Grant has become famous through accessible formats. The author of WorkLife and ReThinking presents solutions to common workplace challenges which most people encounter during their professional lives. Adam Grant shares his research with many people through TED while keeping his work based on scientific evidence.
Adam Grant is an organizational psychology professor holds a recognized position in their field of work. People seek him out because he possesses authority. He is a professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
His work appears frequently in management and HR and leadership discussions because of this reason. The information they provide appears to come from research studies instead of being random statements.
Personal life
Adam Grant has been married to Allison Grant since graduate school, and they have three children: two daughters and a son.
Famous quotes by Adam Grant
- “An employee made a mistake that cost the company $10 million, he walked into the office of Tom Watson, the C.E.O., expecting to get fired. “Fire you?” Mr. Watson asked. “I just spent $10 million educating you.”
- “Argue like you’re right and listen like you’re wrong.”
- “At work and in life, the best we can do is plan for what we want to learn and contribute over the next year or two, and stay open to what might come next.”
- “Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon.”
- “Choosing a career isn’t like finding a soulmate. It’s possible that your ideal job hasn’t even been invented yet.”
- “Collecting a teacher’s knowledge may help us solve the challenges of the day, but understanding how a teacher thinks can help us navigate the challenges of a lifetime.”
- “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
- “Effective hiring, screening and team building is not about bringing in the givers. It’s about weeding out the takers, and if you can do that well, you’ll be left with givers and matchers.”
- “Every time we interact with another person at work, we have a choice to make: do we try to claim as much value as we can, or contribute value without worrying about what we receive in return?”
- “Excellence is the product of high aspirations and low ego.”
- “Focusing on results might be good for short-term performance, but it can be an obstacle to long-term learning.”
- “Foreclosing on one identity is like following a GPS that gives you the right directions to the wrong destination.”
- “Givers reject the notion that interdependence is weak. Givers are more likely to see interdependence as a source of strength, a way to harness the skills of multiple people for a greater good.”.
- “Having a sense of security in one realm gives us the freedom to be original in another.”
- “Highly successful people have three things in common: motivation, ability, and opportunity.”
- “I think the foundation of creating psychological safety is making it acceptable, and even encouraging, for people to raise problems if they haven’t figured out a solution yet.”
- “I think the worst way to be more productive is to set your sights on being more productive. What you want to do instead is to focus on a reason to be more productive.”
- “If we communicate the vision behind our ideas, the purpose guiding our products, people will flock to us.”
- “If you don’t hire originals, you run the risk of people disagreeing but not voicing their dissent.”
- “Knowledge is best sought from experts, but creativity and wisdom can come from anywhere.”
Books and articles by Adam Grant et al.
- 2023. Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. Penguin.
- 2022. Getting Unstuck: The Effects of Growth Mindsets About the Self and Job on Happiness at Work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108 (1), pp. 152-166.
- 2021. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. Penguin.
- 2020. When putting work off pays off: The curvilinear relationship between procrastination and creativity. Academy of Management Journal.
- 2019. Power Moves. Audible Originals.
- 2019. Bored by interest: Intrinsic motivation in one task can reduce performance in other tasks. Academy of Management Journal, 62, pp. 1-22.
- 2019. The Mixed Effects of Online Diversity Training. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (15), pp. 7778-7783.
- 2017. Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy. with Sheryl Sandberg. Knopf.
- 2017. When job performance is all relative: How family motivation energizes effort and compensates for intrinsic motivation. Academy of Management Journal, 60, pp. 695-719.
- 2016. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. Viking.
- 2016. The bright side of being prosocial at work, and the dark side, too: A review and agenda for research on other-oriented motives, behavior, and impact in organizations. Academy of Management Annals.
- 2015. Hale and hearty policies: How psychological science can create and maintain healthy habits. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10, pp. 701-705.
- 2014. Job titles as identity badges: How self-reflective titles can reduce emotional exhaustion. Academy of Management Journal, 57 (4), pp. 1201-1225.
- 2014. Separating data from intuition: Bringing evidence into the management classroom. Academy of Management Learning & Education.
- 2013. Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. Viking.
- 2013. Rocking the boat but keeping it steady: The role of emotion regulation in employee voice. Academy of Management Journal, 56, pp. 1703-1723.
- 2013. When in doubt, seize the day? Security values, prosocial values, and proactivity under ambiguity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98, pp. 810-819.
- 2013. Rethinking the extraverted sales ideal: The ambivert advantage. Psychological Science, 24 (6), pp. 1024-1030.
- 2013. Accountability and ideology: When left looks right and right looks left. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 122 (), pp. 22-35.
- 2013. Growing at work: Employees’ interpretations of progressive self-change in organizations. Organization Science, 24: 552-570.
- 2013. Meaningful work: Connecting business ethics and organization studies. Journal of Business Ethics, 121, pp. 77-90.
- 2012. Challenging the norm of self-interest: Minority influence and transitions to helping norms in work units. Academy of Management Review, 37: 547-568.
- 2012. Giving time, time after time: Work design and sustained employee participation in corporate volunteering. Academy of Management Review, 37: 589-615.
- 2012. Leading with meaning: Beneficiary contact, prosocial impact, and the performance effects of transformational leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 55: 458-476.
- 2012. Beneficiary or benefactor: The effects of reflecting about receiving versus giving on prosocial behavior. Psychological Science, 23: 1033-1039.
- 2012. Mixed reasons, missed givings: The costs of blending egoistic and altruistic reasons in donation requests. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48: 1322-1328.
- 2012. The bedside manner of homo economicus: How and why priming an economic schema reduces compassion. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 119: 27-37.
- 2012. Doing good at work feels good at home, but not right away: When and why perceived prosocial impact predicts positive affect. Personnel Psychology, 65: 495-530.
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Original publication date: February 1, 2026 | Last update: March 1, 2026
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Sheryl Lynn Baas
Sheryl Lynn Baas is our Communications Manager at Toolshero and you might recognize her from our learning videos. Sheryl’s academic background is in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology and she is the founder of the Sheryl Lynn Foundation, a non-profit for children and education in the Philippines. She’s a jack-of-all-trades and furthermore shares her gifts as a spiritual coach, presenter and DJ. Fun fact: she is former Miss Netherlands 2006.
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