Adam Grant

They do. And I think that, look, there's a long history of evidence that people think that you can be brilliant, but cruel. And that, you know, being a critic actually makes you smarter than people who are uncritical because... Cynical genius illusion. Yeah, exactly. You've been reading Jameel Zaki, I imagine, recently. And what's fascinating to me about this is...

these are completely independent qualities, right? You could do a very incisive, thoughtful analysis of why something works. And you could also do a lazy, uninformed critique of why something doesn't work. And so I think we need to separate the quality of analysis and the depth of evaluation that somebody does from the valence, right? Is the assessment positive or negative?

these are completely independent qualities, right? You could do a very incisive, thoughtful analysis of why something works. And you could also do a lazy, uninformed critique of why something doesn't work. And so I think we need to separate the quality of analysis and the depth of evaluation that somebody does from the valence, right? Is the assessment positive or negative?

these are completely independent qualities, right? You could do a very incisive, thoughtful analysis of why something works. And you could also do a lazy, uninformed critique of why something doesn't work. And so I think we need to separate the quality of analysis and the depth of evaluation that somebody does from the valence, right? Is the assessment positive or negative?

I think maybe one of the best ways to land in this place, and I'm thinking out loud here, but I actually think that it should be a discipline. If you're going to criticize something, you also have to try to create it.

I think maybe one of the best ways to land in this place, and I'm thinking out loud here, but I actually think that it should be a discipline. If you're going to criticize something, you also have to try to create it.

I think maybe one of the best ways to land in this place, and I'm thinking out loud here, but I actually think that it should be a discipline. If you're going to criticize something, you also have to try to create it.

Because having been in both roles, a diver and a diving judge, an author and a book reviewer, a teacher and speaker and a student and an audience member, one of the overwhelming lessons from juxtaposing those two hats is that criticizing is easy and creating is hard. You can trash a book I wrote in two hours. You didn't spend two years creating it.

Because having been in both roles, a diver and a diving judge, an author and a book reviewer, a teacher and speaker and a student and an audience member, one of the overwhelming lessons from juxtaposing those two hats is that criticizing is easy and creating is hard. You can trash a book I wrote in two hours. You didn't spend two years creating it.

Because having been in both roles, a diver and a diving judge, an author and a book reviewer, a teacher and speaker and a student and an audience member, one of the overwhelming lessons from juxtaposing those two hats is that criticizing is easy and creating is hard. You can trash a book I wrote in two hours. You didn't spend two years creating it.

And I think that the real test of whether somebody is intelligent is not whether they can tear down somebody else's ideas. It's whether they can build an idea of their own.

And I think that the real test of whether somebody is intelligent is not whether they can tear down somebody else's ideas. It's whether they can build an idea of their own.

And I think that the real test of whether somebody is intelligent is not whether they can tear down somebody else's ideas. It's whether they can build an idea of their own.

Yeah. So, so often people, they try to remind us to listen to feedback by saying feedback is a gift. And sometimes I just want to ask, well, like, Where's the returns department? This is not the gift that I wanted. You don't know my taste and my preferences at all. I have no use for this. It's garbage. But I think that pre-committing is also really helpful here.

Yeah. So, so often people, they try to remind us to listen to feedback by saying feedback is a gift. And sometimes I just want to ask, well, like, Where's the returns department? This is not the gift that I wanted. You don't know my taste and my preferences at all. I have no use for this. It's garbage. But I think that pre-committing is also really helpful here.

Yeah. So, so often people, they try to remind us to listen to feedback by saying feedback is a gift. And sometimes I just want to ask, well, like, Where's the returns department? This is not the gift that I wanted. You don't know my taste and my preferences at all. I have no use for this. It's garbage. But I think that pre-committing is also really helpful here.

So think in advance about who are the people whose opinions of your work and your ideas are really important to you. And then seek their input. And if they're supportive, that means a lot. And it kind of buffers you against whatever criticism comes in. And if they're not supportive, you've got some work to do. And you know it's coming from a place of wanting to help you.

So think in advance about who are the people whose opinions of your work and your ideas are really important to you. And then seek their input. And if they're supportive, that means a lot. And it kind of buffers you against whatever criticism comes in. And if they're not supportive, you've got some work to do. And you know it's coming from a place of wanting to help you.

So think in advance about who are the people whose opinions of your work and your ideas are really important to you. And then seek their input. And if they're supportive, that means a lot. And it kind of buffers you against whatever criticism comes in. And if they're not supportive, you've got some work to do. And you know it's coming from a place of wanting to help you.

Bang it. And I guess it's an extension of the cynical genius illusion. If you're cynical about other people's motives all the time, you distrust them and you bring out a version of them that has their guard up and that is not willing to share their knowledge freely with you, that's not willing to open up their network to you. You start from the assumption that most people do not want to screw you.