Originals (2016) | Adam Grant

Incredibly insightful book.

To list some of the important things, or simply what I think is most helpful, to me. In no particular order.

• I learned that much of the innovators of the world are really just regular people. Most of them are risk-averse also.
• It's best to get advice from experts who have experience on their fields.
• Frame your message in such a way that does not attack people's core beliefs. Make your ideas familiar.
• Expose the weaknesses of your idea early on. 
• It isn't necessarily always about being first. Sometimes it's better to do things, well, better.
• In raising children, it's better to teach values, than rules.

For very young children, explain how their behavior causes visible harm to a victim. "If you push him, he'll fall down and cry"
As children mature, begin to explain impact on basic feelings. "You really hurt her when you took her toy"
Later, direct attention to more subtler feelings. "She's upset because she was proud of her toy, and you knocked it down"

• Emphasize consequences for others can motivate adults too.

To think about yourself, invokes logic of consequence
To think about others, prompts logic of appropriateness.
It switches from a cost-benefit equation to a contemplation of values.

• Praise a child's character as a person, over their behavior. 

• A commitment blueprint is the most stable in terms of running a business. However, it can lack advancement if everyone becomes too familiar, and no one challenges the status-quo. The best would be a commitment blueprint where everyone is free to offer dissenting ideas and criticism.

• When you're having anxieties or negative emotions to a goal, it's best to look on the positive side. Turn fear into excitement, humor or curiosity. When you're committed to the goal, you can now look on what to improve.

• In influencing behavior, if people perceive the new behavior as safe, emphasize the good things that will happen if they go. if people perceive the new behavior as risky, destabilize the status-quo, then emphasize the bad things that will happen if they don't change.

• Venting accentuates the emotion if done immediately, Venting is best after we've had some time to process the event, when we're not blindsided by anger or distress.