“Let go of your attachment to being right, and suddenly your mind is more open.” – Ralph Marston

As humans, we like to feel that the ideas, beliefs, and opinions we hold are correct – and those opposing views of others are wrong.

We can often find the error in the ideas other people hold and feel driven to help them rethink their opinions. Still, we are much less inclined to realize that we, too, may benefit from letting go of our attachment to being right, opening our minds to new perspectives, knowledge, and insights so we can rethink and unlearn.

That is what the book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant is all about. 

Grant suggests that we gravitate toward three distinct styles of communicating what we think we know.

1. The Preacher: delivering sermons to protect sacred beliefs
2. The Prosecutor: determined to prove other people’s reasoning is faulty and incorrect
3. The Politician: campaigns and lobbies to win people over to their side of an argument