
Hidden Potential

underdog effect.
Adam Grant • Hidden Potential
When we treat barriers as challenges to conquer, we rise to the occasion.
Adam Grant • Hidden Potential
You’re not aiming for perfect—you’re shooting for better. The only way to win is to grow.
Adam Grant • Hidden Potential
Being a sponge is not only a proactive skill—it’s a prosocial skill. Done right, it’s not just about soaking up nutrients that help us grow. It’s also about releasing nutrients to help others grow.
Adam Grant • Hidden Potential
My first request isn’t for feedback or advice. It’s for a score. I ask the judges to independently rate my work on a scale from 0 to 10. No one ever says 10. Then I ask how I can get closer to 10.
Adam Grant • Hidden Potential
overblown implications effect.
Adam Grant • Hidden Potential
Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness. The term was coined by a sociologist (Corey Keyes) and immortalized by a philosopher (Mariah Carey).
Adam Grant • Hidden Potential
The bad news is that a perfect map won’t exist. The exact route hasn’t been plotted for us—there may not even be a road. We might have to pave our own way, figuring out the route as we go, one turn at a time.
Adam Grant • Hidden Potential
deliberate play.