Management professor Adam Grant inspired -- and surprised -- a lot of people in 2013 with his first book, "Give and Take," which showed why kindness can be a strategic advantage. He's about to do it again with a new book on creativity, called "Originals."
I haven't yet read the new book, which doesn't officially make its debut until February. But I just finished taking a nifty new quiz that showcases many of the key research findings that Grant will be citing in Originals. It's a devilish little test! In rapid, multiple-choice format, he runs us through 15 scenarios. Each time, we're asked to pick the multiple-choice option that most closely matches what creative people do.
While taking the test, it felt as if I knew the right answer about two-thirds of the time. That seemed like a logical place to be. From his perch as a management professor at the University of Pennyslvania's Wharton School, Grant conducts a lot of cutting-edge research himself. He also keeps up to date on similar work by academic colleagues around the world. So it makes sense that he's at least half a step ahead of the rest of us.
When I completed the five-minute quiz and asked to see my score, that's when everything became more intriguing. It turned out that a few of my most hesitant guesses were right, after all. All the same, when I was stone-cold certain that I knew the correct answer, sometimes I was just plain wrong. Overall, I scored 8/15, or 53%. On the bright side, that's a bit better than random chance. Even so, it leaves, um, plenty of room for improvement.
The takeaway message: lots of folk wisdom about creativity might actually be hurtful, rather than helpful. If we want to do our most original work, it's time to learn some new habits. What's more, we can become more supportive of peers, subordinates and family members who do have the creative knack -- if we just have the decency to get out of their way sometimes.
A link to Grant's quiz is here. More information about his new book is here.
