Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World
Written by Adam Grant in in 2016
The Raccoon: Psychologist Adam Grant tackles the myths surrounding creativity and success, outlining the actual habits and mindsets that allow entrepreneurs and other “originals” to affect change. Citing multiple studies and historical examples in each chapter, Originals teaches us how quantity creates quality, why procrastination is often helpful, and how younger siblings end up taking more risks. Through these revelations and numerous others, Grants changes how one views and interacts with the world.
UNMASKED: Fans of Malcolm Gladwell know what to expect: a book that latches onto an idea--in Grant’s case, what distinguishes creative people from conformists--and runs with it, finding every possible application of the concept in both science and society until the reader is thoroughly convinced that this one thing drives our entire world. Even if only one chapter of Originals resonates with you, your entire worldview may still change as a result.
Of course, one would be hard-pressed to not find something impactful in every chapter. Originals reads as a collection of smaller books, each containing an introductory anecdote, outline, and 3-4 subsections with their own research, stories, and key takeaways. While Grant includes an “Actions for Impact” guide at the very end, reiterating the book’s concepts as specific and concrete habits, the ideas are presented so effectively the first time that this section is largely unnecessary. That being said, it proves useful when one inevitably decides to revisit the work.
Strengths:
- Originals does not extrapolate; Grant only speaks to the ideas directly proven by the data.
- Every anecdote feels personal, as if one was speaking to each subject--Carmen Medina, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King Jr., among others--at a bar. Along with supporting Grant’s theme, each story holds as much detail and meaning than a chapter from a biography would.
- The scope of Originals is just right. Grant does not pretend that a sprinkle of risk balancing and strategic nonconformity will reverse climate change or establish a colony on Mars, nor does he shy away from claiming that these tactics played a major role in the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the success of the Serbian Otpor! movement. In short, Originals is ambitious but not all-encompassing or dogmatic.
Although I have tried, as Grant suggested, to play my own devil’s advocate, I cannot find anything wrong with this book.
Rating: 20/20 younger-sibling comedians
Ideal Setting: Read this whenever you are worried that every good idea has already been taken. Originality is a mindset and a habit, and one that is needed now more than ever.
