See three ways to unlock your ‘hidden potential’ – 12/02/2023 – Balance

In a culture that focuses intensely on success, it’s easy to feel like a failure. But according to organizational psychologist Adam Grant, that could be because we’re thinking about achievement all wrong.

Many people assume that achievement is closely linked to innate ability, so they give up activities they find challenging. This is a mistake, writes the psychologist in his new book: “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things”.

Grant shares anecdotes about people who have achieved extraordinary things despite showing little aptitude at first — including himself. The writer qualified twice for the Junior Olympic diving championships, although he was, according to him, extremely clumsy and took a long time to be able to touch his toes without bending his knees.

Interweaving stories shared by him, the psychologist analyzes the paths and strategies that led to each success and discusses relevant insights from the research literature — his field of activity. Grant is a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, hosts the podcast “Re:Thinking” and is the author of the bestseller “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know” (Sextante, 2021). He also contributes opinion columns to The Times.

I spoke with Grant about three key points from his book that can help you unlock your own hidden potential.

ACCEPT THE DISCOMFORT

Success, Grant argues, is more about growth over time than victories achieved. And, for him, one of the best ways to develop skills is to challenge yourself.

“The feeling of discomfort is a sign that you are about to learn something new”, says the psychologist in an interview. “That’s a signal we should not only pay attention to, but amplify.”

You may have heard that people learn better when lessons are tailored to their “learning style.” Some people may be visual, auditory, or verbal learners, and so on.

But Grant presents research that suggests that people don’t always learn more when information is tailored to their preferences. The opposite may even be true: we can grow more when we deliberately step outside our comfort zone.

It’s okay — even okay — to make mistakes along the way, he says. The book tells the story of a polyglot who measures his progress in learning a new language by the number of mistakes he makes each day. He’s aiming for at least 200.

“The way you master knowledge and skills is to use them as you acquire them,” says the writer. “If you don’t even try enough to make mistakes, it’s very difficult to make progress.”

KEEP THINGS INTERESTING

While we should be wary of burnout, he writes, it’s equally important to avoid the opposite, which he calls “boredom burnout” — the emotional burnout we feel when we’re chronically understimulated.

One way to do this, he argues, is to incorporate games and novelty into your learning routines. In the book, Grant attributes basketball player Stephen Curry’s rapid improvement to a coach who emphasized game variety in his training sessions rather than repetitive drills.

“Hundreds of experiments show that people improve faster when they switch between different skills,” he writes.

When you feel trapped, you shouldn’t keep banging your head against the wall. Take a break and work on something you enjoy, he says. By channeling your creativity into another activity, “you may discover new confidence and skills, and this can give you the momentum to help you climb the ladder.”

ASK FOR ADVICE (AND GIVE IT TOO)

When we seek to improve, we often ask others for feedback. But it’s not always helpful, the writer explains, in part because it focuses on what we’ve done in the past.

Once, when Grant asked for notes after a performance, he was told that his “nervous breathing sounded like Darth Vader.” The comment was “a crash course in demoralization by useless criticism,” he writes.

He points instead to research from Harvard Business School that found it’s more helpful to ask for advice that focuses on what you can do better in the future. Furthermore, these are often phrased positively, shifting the mindset to what can be done right.