Hidden Potential

I finished a book this past week: Hidden Potential by Adam Grant. Dr. Grant is an organizational psychologist and professor at Wharton.

The book dives into how anyone can rise to achieve greater things. He explores practical strategies and system design to cultivate traits and create opportunities for hidden potential to blossom.

Sharing a few nuggets that spoke to me:

  • Build character skills. Personality is how you respond on a typical day, and character is how you respond on a hard day. When opportunity doesn’t knock, look to build a door — or climb through a window. Talent determines where you start, but character determines how far you climb.

  • Set a mistake budget. Grant reviewed research on polyglots — people who can speak multiple languages — and asked how people learn so many languages. His finding? Put yourself in the ring before you’re ready. And give yourself a mistake budget. “I will mess up 10 times” so you ruminate less.

    • You don’t need to get comfortable before you practice. Your comfort grows as you practice.

  • Ask for advice, not feedback. Feedback is backward-looking and focuses on criticism/celebration of the past. Advice is forward-looking and gives people the ability to coach you.

    • A good tip. Find credible, caring people familiar with your work. Ask them to score your work from 1 to 10. Then ask, “How can I get this closer to a 10 next time? What’s one thing I can do better?"

  • Getting unstuck. When you’re languishing, reframe your approach. Can you make it fun? Can you do something different? Are you taking rest? This is not a waste of time but an investment in well-being.

  • Combating imposter syndrome: The way you talk to yourself is vital. A good way to flip your thinking when you doubt yourself: use “yet”.

    • Imposter syndrome: “I don’t know what I’m doing; it’s only a matter of time until everyone finds out.”

    • Growth mindset: “I don’t know what I’m doing yet. It’s only a matter of time until I figure it out.”

We all hope to live up to our potential (and hopefully, exceed it.)

But as Grant concludes: The ultimate mark of potential is not the height of the peak you’ve reached, but the distance you’ve traveled—and helped others travel.