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Adam Grant's book recommendations
Across 5 podcasts. Every show Adam Grant appears on, in one place — not just one.
Adam Grant’s most recommended books
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- Insight by Tasha Eurich
- Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) by Carol Tavris
- Quiet by Susan Cain
- Switch by Chip Heath
- The culture code by Daniel Coyle
- A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
- Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss
Adam Grant is an American organizational psychologist and author who is best known as a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a writer focusing on behavioral science, motivation, and workplace dynamics. During his appearances on podcasts like The Tim Ferriss Show, Modern Wisdom, and Huberman Lab, Grant has recommended several evidence-based books aimed at improving professional and personal life. He frequently gifts and recommends Chip and Dan Heath's Switch and Daniel Coyle's The Culture Code as top resources for understanding organizational culture. Grant also highlighted Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson's Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) as a favorite book for exploring self-justification, recommended Susan Cain's Quiet as a guide for understanding introversion, and suggested Tasha Eurich's Insight as a helpful tool for uncovering personal blind spots. Furthermore, Grant discussed Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind to illustrate the growing importance of right-brain skills, mentioned his own book Hidden Potential while discussing his writing process, and brought up Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist during conversations about creativity.
Books recommended by Adam Grant
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is a beloved comedic science fiction classic that satirizes bureaucracy, existentialism, and the absurdities of the universe.
Discussed“and then douglas adams wrote about it in the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy right that the only person we should want as a president is the one who had no interest in doing the job”
Where to get it
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Think Again
Think Again by Adam Grant is a behavioral science book that explores the importance of rethinking assumptions, intellectual humility, and engaging in open-minded dialogue.
Discussed“and then there's actually an example that jumped out at me when i was writing think again”
Where to get it
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Insight
Insight by Tasha Eurich is a non-fiction book that investigates the mechanics of self-awareness, exploring why people often misunderstand themselves and how proper introspection can improve personal and professional performance.
Recommended“but I've recommended a lot recently that if people want to want to figure out what their what their biggest blind spots are that one of the things they ought to do is spend a little bit of time reading Tasha Eirik spoke on self-awareness and asked I think it's called the insight”
Where to get it
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Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me)
Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson explores the psychological mechanisms of self-justification and cognitive dissonance.
Recommended“so you know I think I tend to gift mostly in the genre that I write in so you know thinking about big ideas that are evidence-based that can improve the way we work in live and so mistakes were made but not by me is the favorite”
Where to get it
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Quiet
Quiet by Susan Cain is a compelling exploration of the power of introverts in a society that continually undervalues quiet traits in favor of a loud, boisterous extrovert ideal.
Recommended“you know I'm sure you know that bite a virgin Aaronson a great book on why we are egos get in the way and just about everything and how to overcome that I've gifted Susan Cain's book quiet more times than I can count”
Where to get it
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Switch
Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath is a popular psychology and business book that explores how to change things when change is hard.
Recommended“if you know if somebody wrote me a 9 page that would just forward it right to triage if it were a two paragraph email I might respond and say you know here are my two favorite books on the topic are switched by the heath brothers and the culture code by Dan Coyle”
Where to get it
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The culture code
The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle investigates the underlying dynamics of successful groups, arguing that effective organizational culture is built through psychological safety, vulnerability, and shared purpose.
Recommended“if you know if somebody wrote me a 9 page that would just forward it right to triage if it were a two paragraph email I might respond and say you know here are my two favorite books on the topic are switched by the heath brothers and the culture code by Dan Coyle”
Where to get it
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A Whole New Mind
A Whole New Mind by Daniel H.
Discussed“Dan pink wrote about this I think his most preent book was a whole new mind which is now two decades ago where he argued that like in a left brain world right brainers were actually going to dominate the future”
Where to get it
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A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle's beloved children's science fantasy classic, A Wrinkle in Time, follows young Meg Murry as she journeys across space and time using a tesseract to rescue her scientist father from a malevolent cosmic entity.
Discussed“Jeff Bezos and Sheryl Sandberg boasted a wrinkle in time”
Where to get it
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K.
Discussed“I really think Harry Potter's gonna have this impact I probably put my money on JK Rowling as the most influential original life”
Where to get it
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Hidden Potential
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant explores the science of achieving greater things by focusing on personal growth, character skills, and overcoming obstacles rather than relying solely on innate talent.
Discussed“I'm aiming for a nine and the reason for that is I'm going to pour a couple years of you know my work life into this topic um you know hopefully a lot of people are going to read it and I want to make sure it's truly the best work I can produce”
Where to get it
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Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr.
Discussed“and more recently oh the places you'll go I think was the most popular children's book of the 90s which was all about choosing your own path”
Where to get it
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Steal like an artist
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon is a creative guide that argues originality is a remix of existing influences and encourages creators to embrace borrowing and imitation.
Discussed“and Austin Cleon wrote about this and Ste like an artist another book of his that I found very thought-provoking”
Where to get it
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The Last Supper
Discussed“Leonardo da Vinci for example who spent roughly 15 years trying to finish up the Last Supper and kept putting it off”
Where to get it
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The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R.
Discussed“if you ask Peter Thiel and Elon Musk to name their favorite childhood books they both pick Lord of the Rings”
Where to get it
Books by Adam Grant
Questions about Adam Grant’s book recommendations
What book does Adam Grant recommend most?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Adam Grant discussed it in 1 episode.
How many books has Adam Grant recommended on podcasts?
We have found 15 books Adam Grant recommended or discussed, across 6 episodes of 5 podcasts. Ad reads and passing mentions are not counted.
What books are on Adam Grant's reading list?
The books Adam Grant has recommended most on podcasts are The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Insight by Tasha Eurich, Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) by Carol Tavris, Quiet by Susan Cain and Switch by Chip Heath. The full book list below has all 15.
What books has Adam Grant written?
Originals (2001), Give and Take (2013), Option B (2017), Think Again (2021) and Hidden Potential (2023).
What did Adam Grant recommend on The Tim Ferriss Show?
Insight, Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) and Quiet, among 5 books in all.
What is the latest book Adam Grant recommended?
A Whole New Mind, discussed on Modern Wisdom (2025-01-04).
People who recommend the same books
Appearances
Other mentions (9: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I had an intriguing conversation once with author Michael Lewis, who has written 'Moneyball,' 'The Blind Side,' and 'The Big Short.' I asked him about the extraordinary success stories he had studied: which ones remained grounded and appreciated how far they had come?”
“I had an intriguing conversation once with author Michael Lewis, who has written 'Moneyball,' 'The Blind Side,' and 'The Big Short.' I asked him about the extraordinary success stories he had studied: which ones remained grounded and appreciated how far they had come?”
“I had an intriguing conversation once with author Michael Lewis, who has written 'Moneyball,' 'The Blind Side,' and 'The Big Short.' I asked him about the extraordinary success stories he had studied: which ones remained grounded and appreciated how far they had come?”
“it comes from um kurer I think and um the cursor”
“that is my favorite parenting lesson from hidden potential”
“This should have been a chapter in Hidden Potential; where were you, Jay Shetty, while I was writing this book?”
“I'm kicking myself now because if we had had this conversation a year ago, I would have written that into "Think Again".”
“i was thinking about this personally and i was thinking okay what kinds of what kinds of opinions have i been too attached to that became part of my identity”
“i've started telling people that you know i've i've increasingly noticed myself this is a great example of self-persuasion right i wrote a whole book about how we need to watch out for slipping into these other mindsets”