Notes from Hidden Potential by Adam Grant

Favorite passages, main takeaways, and a few personal rambles

Hidden Potential first made it on my “to be read” list thanks to a recommendation from John Green last December. It’s not the style of book he usually promotes—social psych veering into self-help—and I was intrigued.

After literal months of waiting (I started as 400–something on my library’s wait list) I downloaded and read Adam Grant’s 4th solo book last month. My cursor hesitated over the “rating” column in my reading tracker spreadsheet when I finished. Grant is earnest and clear—plus he showed enough of his personality I couldn’t help but like the guy. I also thought this book could have been significantly shorter and less repetitive… though sometimes reiterating ideas is exactly what an audience needs to make them stick. If I did half-points, it’d be an easy 3.5.

My overall takeaway from Hidden Potential was one of loose inspiration. Past success does not always translate into future achievement; we can try to improve ourselves from a range of starting points; we need to embrace mi…