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Achieving Greatness, with Adam Grant and Tim Harford

A revolutionary framework for how we can all exceed the expectations and aspirations we have set for ourselves

This brilliant book will shatter your assumptions about what it takes to improve and succeed. I wish I could go back in time and gift it to my younger self. It would’ve helped me find a more joyful path to progress”  –  Serena Williams

Adam Grant is one of the most sought after organisational psychologists in the world. He has provided expert advice to many of the world’s greatest business leaders, including Bill Gates and Sheryl Sandberg, equipping them with the mental tools to find motivation and meaning, rethink assumptions, and achieve greatness in their business and personal lives.

In January 2024 Grant came to the Intelligence Squared stage for a rare, exclusive London event where he shared his revolutionary framework for how we can all exceed the expectations and aspirations we have set for ourselves. Drawing on his new book Hidden Potential he explained that despite living in a world that tends to admire people who start out with innate talent, there is clear scientific evidence that we can all bridge the biology gap and improve ourselves dramatically.

In conversation with economist and FT columnist Tim Harford, Grant wove together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid story telling to take us from the classroom to the boardroom and the playground to the Olympics. He revealed how progress depends not so much on how hard we work and more on how well we learn. Growth is not about the genius we possess – it’s about the character we develop. He explained how to build the charac­ter skills and motivational structures to realise our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities for those who have been underrated and overlooked.


Speakers

Speaker

Adam Grant

One of the world's most renowned organisational psychologists. His latest book is Hidden Potential


Adam Grant - Top-rated professor for seven straight years at The Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has been recognised as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers and Fortune’s 40 under 40. ​He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of five books that have sold millions of copies and been translated into 45 languages: Think Again, Give and Take, Originals, Option B, and Power Moves. His books have been named among the year’s best by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. His viral piece on languishing was the most-read New York Times article of 2021 and the most-saved article across all platforms. His new book, Hidden Potential, has been released in October 2023. He hosts the TED podcasts Re:Thinking and WorkLife, which have been downloaded over 65 million times. His speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NBA, Bridgewater, and the Gates Foundation. He writes on work and psychology for the New York Times, has served on the Defense Innovation Board at the Pentagon and has been honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.   
Chair

Tim Harford

Senior columnist for the Financial Times and author of How To Make The World Add Up


Senior columnist for the Financial Times, where as 'The Undercover Economist', he reveals the economic ideas behind everyday experiences. He also presents the BBC radio series More or Less. His writing has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, New York magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. His latest book is How to Make the World Add Up, and previous books include The Undercover Economist, The Logic of Life and Adapt.