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  • Published: 2 February 2016
  • ISBN: 9780753551776
  • Imprint: Virgin Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336

Originals

How Non-conformists Change the World




A manifesto for originality and a guide to championing new ideas that challenge the status quo.

WINNER of the Chartered Management Institute's (CMI's) Mangement Book of the Year Awards 2017, JP Morgan's Best Summer Read 2018, and a #1 New York Times Bestseller!

‘Extraordinary’ JJ Abrams
‘Fascinating’ Arianna Huffington
‘Inspire creativity and change’ Richard Branson
‘One of my favourite thinkers’ Malcolm Gladwell
‘Masterful’ Peter Thiel
‘One of the great social scientists of our time’ Susan Cain, bestselling author of Quiet
‘Fresh research, counter-intuitive insights, lively writing, practical calls to action’ The Financial Times


The New York Times bestselling author examines how people can drive creative, moral, and organisational progress—and how leaders can encourage originality in their organisations.

How can we originate new ideas, policies and practices without risking it all? Adam Grant shows how to improve the world by championing novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battling conformity, and bucking outdated traditions.

Using surprising studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports, and entertainment, Grant explores how to recognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt. Parents will learn how to nurture originality in children, and leaders will discover how to fight groupthink to build cultures that welcome dissent.

Told through dazzling case studies of people going against the grain, you’ll encounter an entrepreneur who pitches the reasons not to invest, a woman at Apple who challenged Steve Jobs from three levels below, an analyst who challenged secrecy at the CIA, a billionaire financial wizard who fires employees who don’t criticize him, and the TV executive who saved Seinfeld from the cutting room floor. Originals will give you groundbreaking insights about rejecting conformity and how to change the world.

  • Published: 2 February 2016
  • ISBN: 9780753551776
  • Imprint: Virgin Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336

About the author

Adam Grant

Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist, Wharton's top-rated professor for seven straight years, and the New York Times bestselling author of three books that have sold over a million copies and been translated into 35 languages. He hosts the TED original podcast "WorkLife", which in the spring of 2018 reached #1 on the Apple charts. He has been recognized as one of the world's 10 most influential management thinkers, Fortune's 40 under 40, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and he has more than 2.7 million followers on social media. He also curates the Next Big Idea Club along with Susan Cain, Malcolm Gladwell, and Dan Pink, handpicking two new books each quarter for subscribers and donating 100% of profits to provide books for children in under-resourced communities.

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Praise for Originals

ORIGINALS is one of the most important and captivating books I have ever read, full of surprising and powerful ideas. It will not only change the way you see the world; it might just change the way you live your life. And it could very well inspire you to change your world.

Sheryl Sandberg, bestselling author of LEAN IN

Reading ORIGINALS made me feel like I was seated across from Adam Grant at a dinner party, as one of my favorite thinkers thrilled me with his insights and his wonderfully new take on the world.

Malcolm Gladwell

After launching hundreds of businesses—from airlines to trains, music to mobile, and now a spaceline—my biggest challenges and successes have come from convincing other people to see the world differently. ORIGINALS reveals how that can be done and will help you inspire creativity and change.

Sir Richard Branson

ORIGINALS is a fascinating, eye-opening read that will help you not just recognize your own unique gifts, but find the strength to challenge conventional wisdom to bring them to life. Using surprising studies and riveting stories, Adam Grant brilliantly shows us how to champion new ideas, bust persistent myths that hold us back and change not only our lives, but our world.

Arianna Huffington

This extraordinary, wildly entertaining book sheds new light on the Age of Disruption. What does it take to make a meaningful difference? And how can you apply this insight to your own life? By debunking myths of success stories, challenging long-held beliefs of process, and finding commonality among those who are agents of profound change, Adam Grant gives us a powerful new perspective on not just our place in the world, but our potential to shake it up entirely.

JJ Abrams, director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, co-creator and executive producer of Lost, and cofounder of Bad Robot

It can sometimes seem as if one must master everything old in order to earn the privilege of doing anything new. Adam Grant does a masterful job showing that is not the case; we are lucky to have him as a guide.

Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal and Palantir, and author of Zero to One

An urgent must read, a seminal work that will surprise you on every single page. Adam Grant has reset our expectations for what it means to be creative and what's required to make a difference. Share it with someone you care about.

Seth Godin, bestselling author of PURPLE COW and many other titles

[A] rich and practical paean to nonconformity.

Fortune

Adam Grant is a serious social scientist, master storyteller and infectious optimist…. "Originals" is filled with fresh insights on a broad array of topics that are important to our personal and professional lives. Mr. Grant has an uncanny ability to infuse a familiar topic with deeper meaning and leave the reader feeling hopeful and a little exhilarated.

New York Times

Adam Grant is one of the great social scientists of our time

Susan Cain, author of QUIET

Fresh research, counter-intuitive insights, lively writing, practical calls to action ... Grant has a deserved reputation as an original thinker.

The Financial Times

Originals succeeds by marrying sound research and insightful anecdotes to a breezy narrative style

The Guardian

Part of the fun of Grant’s book is that he redeems behaviors we typically regard with puritan disdain. . . . Thought-provoking.

The New York Times Book Review

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