Episode Released December 5, 2019
5 star episode!!! I feel like someone mentioned Adam Grant’s name in my birthday Zoom call the other day and I decided to give it a whirl. I was VERY impressed. Adam Grant is one of those rare people who always is trying to be a better version of themselves. I felt captivated the whole time: I learned a lot and I also loved how he interacted with Dax and Monica.
I learned a lot: I mean, this is an Experts on Experts, but I tend to avoid them because I feel like I’ll never understand them. This feels a little unfair to say since I haven’t had many experiences feeling lost, I think I just get afraid and assume it will go over my head. Like I’ve said before, I often listen to episodes over the course of a few days and/or while doing something else, so I think it makes sense why I’m not interested in super meaty, dense episodes. This episode, even though there was a LOT of various content explored, did not feel dense for one second. Adam has a way of explaining things so fucking clearly, without a single hesitation, it’s hard to believe he didn’t rehearse his “speech” beforehand. Again, he is an expert so he knows the field of psychology REALLY well, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he is a shoe-in for being a good explainer. I think he really has a knack for brevity. I can always appreciate a good economy of language and some statistics that will really HIT ya. Bravo, Adam Grant.
I also loved how he interacted with Dax and Monica: You know my qualms with Dax run far and wide — I often feel like he’s trying to prove something to his guest. In fact, he’s even admitted to this before many times saying, for example with Bill Gates, that he wanted Bill to assume he was smart and not think down on him. I think it’s great that Dax has this self-awareness of his insecurities, but I seldom feel like he course corrects. Howeeeeever! In this episode, Dax had previously written some thoughts that he brought to the table. He did this to question Adam‘s publication in The Atlantic and for some reason, I think because they were pre-conceived, I was way less bothered by him interjecting. His questions felt thoughtful and like they had no ulterior motive. Dax just wanted to understand — he wasn’t striving to prove anything.
Monica also can tend to frustrate me because of her lack of verbal contribution, but in this episode she was chatty as ever and added some really cool comments/questions to the conversation. This episode was so notable for that exact reason… Dax and Monica were FLOORED Adam was even in their presence. Their excitement to talk to him was palpable. Even though I obviously can’t see them, they seemed to be hanging onto his every word. Their investment made me more invested.
Random thoughts about his content:
- Givers vs. takers. This is the majority of work Adam does. Such a cool concept I’ve never fully thought about before, especially in the way he talks about it. I feel like raising a giver (especially in modern-day America) is almost impossible — could have been cool for them to touch on this a little.
- He’s a super taster! So fucking cool. Made me wonder if I am lol. Then Monica said how to check if you’re a super taster in the fact check and I was like nope…too much work lol
- Steve Jobs was an asshole. Idk why I never knew this but Adam enlightened me. He talked about these statistics from Apple and how almost everyone Jobs worked with said he could’ve been a little bit kinder and it would have come at no cost to himself or his company.
Apparently, Adam Grant just returned to AE recently and I will be listening ASAP. I’ll try to listen to episodes more in one bite. I feel like I missed a couple of important things I wanted to say because I listened to this episode over 3ish days. I don’t have the best memory :( Nonetheless, stay tuned for Adam Grant, part 2, coming soon.
