by Adam Grant
C. J. Skender: Personal interviews with Skender (January 16 and April 30, 2012), Beth Traynham (May 4, 2012), Marie Arcuri (May 5, 2012), and David Moltz (May 10, 2012); see also Megan Tucker, “By the Book, Sort of . . .” BusinessWeek, September 20, 2006; Kim Nielsen, “The Last Word: C. J. Skender, CPA,” Journal of Accountancy, April 2008; Patrick Adams, “The Entertainer,” Duke Magazine, March 4, 2004; and Nicki Jhabvala, “Road Trip: UNC,” Sports Illustrated, November 8, 2006.
Israel Defense Forces: Dov Eden, “Pygmalion without Interpersonal Contrast Effects: Whole Groups Gain from Raising Manager Expectations,” Journal of Applied Psychology 75 (1990): 394–398, and “Self-Fulfilling Prophecies in Organizations,” in Organizational Behavior: State of the Science, ed. J. Greenberg (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2003), 91–122.
intellectual blooming: Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, “Teachers’ Expectancies: Determinants of Pupils’ IQ Gains,” Psychological Reports 19 (1966): 115–118; and Pygmalion in the Classroom: Teacher Expectation and Pupils’ Intellectual Development (New York: Crown, 2003).
“Self-fulfilling prophecies”: Lee Jussim and Kent Harber, “Teacher Expectations and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Knowns and Unknowns, Resolved and Unresolved Controversies,” Personality and Social Psychology Review 9 (2005): 131–155.
employees bloomed: D. Brian McNatt, “Ancient Pygmalion Joins Contemporary Management: A Meta-Analysis of the Result,” Journal of Applied Psychology 85 (2000): 314–322.
low expectations trigger a vicious cycle: Jennifer Carson Marr, Stefan Thau, Karl Aquino, and Laurie J. Barclay, “Do I Want to Know? How the Motivation to Acquire Relationship-Threatening Information in Groups Contributes to Paranoid Thought, Suspicion Behavior, and Social Rejection,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 117 (2012): 285–297; and Detlef Fetchenhauer and David Dunning, “Why So Cynical? Asymmetric Feedback Underlies Misguided Skepticism Regarding the Trustworthiness of Others,” Psychological Science 21 (2010): 189–193; see also Fabrizio Ferraro, Jeffrey Pfeffer, and Robert I. Sutton, “Economics Language and Assumptions: How Theories Can Become Self-Fulfilling,” Academy of Management Review 30 (2005): 8–24.
new auditors: D. Brian McNatt and Timothy A. Judge, “Boundary Conditions of the Galatea Effect: A Field Experiment and Constructive Replication,” Academy of Management Journal 47 (2004): 550–565.
investment theory of intelligence: Raymond Cattell, Abilities: Their Structure, Growth, and Action (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1971), and Intelligence: Its Structure, Growth, and Action (New York: Elsevier, 1987); see also Frank Schmidt, “A Theory of Sex Differences in Technical Aptitude and Some Supporting Evidence,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 6 (2011): 560–573.
landmark study of world-class musicians, scientists, and athletes: Benjamin Bloom, Developing Talent in Young People (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985), 173.
“traced the lineage of the world’s most beautiful swans”: Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How. (New York: Bantam, 2009), 173.
ten thousand hours of deliberate practice: Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008); and K. Anders Ericsson and Neil Charness, “Expert Performance: Its Structure and Acquisition,” American Psychologist 49 (1994), 725–747.
grit: Angela L. Duckworth, Christopher Peterson, Michael D. Matthews, and Dennis R. Kelly, “Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92 (2007): 1087–1101.
“you can’t take motivation for granted”: George Anders, The Rare Find: Spotting Exceptional Talent Before Everyone Else (New York: Portfolio, 2011), 212.
Stu Inman: Wayne Thompson, Blazermania: This Is Our Story—The Official History of the Portland Trail Blazers (San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions, 2010); and “My Memories of Stu Inman,” NBA.com, 2007, accessed May 14, 2012, http://www.nba.com/blazers/news/My_memories_of_Stu_Inman-208239-1218.html; Jack Ramsay, “Stu Inman was an Old-School Pro,” ESPN, 2007, accessed May 14, 2012, https://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=2750878; Steve Duin, “Stu Inman: The Ultimate Class Act,” The Oregonian, January 30, 2007; Mandy Major, “Dr. Ogilvie Was an Acclaimed Pioneer in Sports Psychology,” Los Gatos Weekly Times, July 23, 2003; Chris Tomasson, “LaRue Martin’s Story Proves One of Redemption, Success,” AOL News, January 25, 2011, accessed May 14, 2012, http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/25/larue-martins-story-proves-one-of-redemption-success/; and “Ultimate Rebound: Draft Bust LaRue Martin Lands NBA Gig,” AOL News, February 21, 2011, accessed May 14, 2012, http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/21/ultimate-rebounddraft-bust-larue-martin-lands-nba-gig/; Jerry Sullivan, “NBA Scouts Are Learning to Think Small,” Los Angeles Times, March 11, 1989; Stats LLC, “Stu Inman, Architect of Trail Blazers’ Title Team, Dies at 80,” Associated Press, January 31, 2007; Rob Kremer, “Stu Inman, RIP” Blogspot, January 31, 2007, accessed May 14, 2012, http://robkremer.blogspot.com/2007/01/stu-inman-rip.html; Dwight Jaynes, “Pioneer Blazer Won with Character,” Portland Tribune, February 2, 2007; Tommie Smith and David Steele, Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2007), 84; Filip Bondy, Tip-off : How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2007), 114; Frank Coffey, The Pride of Portland: The Story of the Trail Blazers (New York: Everest House, 1980); Chris Ballard, Chuck Wielgus, Clark Kellogg, and Alexander Wolff, Hoops Nation: A Guide to America’s Best Pickup Basketball (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004); and a personal interview with Thompson (May 14, 2012).
teams couldn’t let go of their big bets: Barry M. Staw and Ha Hoang, “Sunk Costs in the NBA: Why Draft Order Affects Playing Time and Survival in Professional Basketball,” Administrative Science Quarterly 40 (1995): 474–494; see also Colin F. Camerer and Roberto A. Weber, “The Econometrics and Behavioral Economics of Escalation of Commitment in NBA Draft Choices,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 39 (1999): 59–82.
why and when escalation of commitment happens: Dustin J. Sleesman, Donald E. Conlon, Gerry McNamara, and Jonathan E. Miles, “Cleaning Up the Big Muddy: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Determinants of Escalation of Commitment,” Academy of Management Journal 55 (2012): 541–562.
California bank customers defaulted on loans: Barry M. Staw, Sigal G. Barsade, and Kenneth W. Koput, “Escalation at the Credit Window: A Longitudinal Study of Bank Executives’ Recognition and Write-off of Problem Loans,” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 130–142.
invest $1 million in a plane: Henry Moon, “The Two Faces of Conscientiousness: Duty and Achievement Striving in Escalation of Commitment Dilemmas,” Journal of Applied Psychology 86 (2001): 533–540.
“keep the prospect of failure hidden”: Bruce M. Meglino and M. Audrey Korsgaard, “Considering Rational Self-Interest as a Disposition: Organizational Implications of Other Orientation,” Journal of Applied Psychology 89 (2004): 946–959; and M. Audrey Korsgaard, Bruce M. Meglino, and Scott W. Lester, “Beyond Helping: Do Other-Oriented Values Have Broader Implications in Organizations?” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 160–177.
choosing on behalf of others: Laura Kray and Richard Gonzalez, “Differential Weighting in Choice Versus Advice: I’ll Do This, You Do That,” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 12 (1999): 207–217; Laura Kray, “Contingent Weighting in Self-Other Decision Making,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 83 (2000): 82–106; and Evan Polman and Kyle J. Emich, “Decisions for Others Are More Creative than Decisions for the Self,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 37 (2011): 492–501.
Bob Gross: Wayne Thompson, “Bob Gross: Moving Without the Ball,” NBA.com, accessed May 14, 2012, http://www.nba.com/blazers/news/Bob_Gross_Moving_Without_The_-292398-1218.html; Kyle Laggner, “Former Blazers’ Forward Bobby Gross Leaves a Lasting Impression,” Oregonian, December 17, 2008; and Jews in Sports profile, accessed May 14, 2012, www
.jewsinsports.org/profi le.asp?sport=basket ball&ID=358.
givers are willing to work harder and longer: Adam M. Grant, “Does Intrinsic Motivation Fuel the Prosocial Fire? Motivational Synergy in Predicting Persistence, Performance, and Productivity,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 93 (2008): 48–58.
Def Jam Records: Personal interview with Russell Simmons (June 26, 2012), and Russell Simmons and Chris Morrow, Do You: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success (New York: Penguin, 2008), 156–157.
Clyde Drexler: Clyde Drexler and Kerry Eggers, Clyde the Glide: My Life in Basketball (New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2011), 109–114.
“making his team members more successful”: Stephen Roulac, “Review of Give and Take,” New York Journal of Books, accessed on June 3, 2013 at www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/give-and-take-revolutionary-approach-success.
Michael Jordan: Michael Leahy, When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan’s Last Comeback (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005); Sam Smith, The Jordan Rules (New York: Mass Market, 1993); Jack McCallum, Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever (New York: Ballantine Books, 2012); ESPN Chicago, “Charles Barkley Critical of Jordan,” March 1, 2012, accessed May 28, 2012, http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/7634685/charles-barkley-michael-jordan-executive-not-done-good-job; and Rick Reilly, “Be Like Michael Jordan? No Thanks,” ESPN, September 19, 2009, accessed May 28, 2012, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4477759.
Dean Smith: Bondy, Tip-off, 3.
“Talented people are attracted to those who care about them”: Personal interview with Chris Granger (June 26, 2012).
“champion great talent: Anders, 246–247.
Chapter 5: The Power of Powerless Communication
Opening quote: Theodore Roosevelt, “Letter to Henry R. Sprague,” American Treasures of the Library of Congress, January 26, 1900.
Dave Walton: Hayes Hunt, “The King’s Speech: A Trial Lawyer’s Stutter,” From the Sidebar, March 3, 2011, and personal interviews with Walton (September 6 and December 15, 2011, and March 9, 2012).
success depends heavily on influence skills: Daniel Pink, To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others (New York: Riverhead, 2012).
dominance and prestige: Nir Halevy, Eileen Y. Chou, Taya R. Cohen, and Robert W. Livingston, “Status Conferral in Intergroup Social Dilemmas: Behavioral Antecedents and Consequences of Prestige and Dominance,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102 (2012): 351–366.
people expect us to communicate powerfully: Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (New York: Crown, 2012).
comfortable expressing vulnerability: see M. Audrey Korsgaard, Bruce M. Meglino, and W. Scott Lester, “Beyond Helping: Do Other-Oriented Values Have Broader Implications in Organizations?” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 160–177; and Michael C. Ashton and Kibeom Lee, “Empirical, Theoretical, and Practical Advantages of the HEXACO Model of Personality Structure,” Personality and Social Psychology Review 11 (2007): 150–166.
pratfall effect: Elliot Aronson, Ben Willerman, and Joanne Floyd, “The Effect of a Pratfall on Increasing Interpersonal Attractiveness,” Psychonomic Science 4 (1966): 227–228; and Robert Helmreich, Elliot Aronson, and James LeFan, “To Err Is Humanizing—Sometimes: Effects of Self-Esteem, Competence, and a Pratfall on Interpersonal Attraction,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 16 (1970): 259–264.
bottom of the social responsibility list: Robert H. Frank, “What Price the Moral High Ground?” Southern Economic Journal 63 (1996): 1–17.
Bill Grumbles: Personal interview (October 4, 2011).
joy of talking: James Pennebaker, Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions (New York: Guilford Press, 1997), 3.
top-selling optician: Personal interviews with Kildare Escoto (August 23 and 28, 2011) and Nancy Phelps (August 23, 2011).
hundreds of opticians: Adam M. Grant and Dane Barnes, “Predicting Sales Revenue” (working paper, 2011).
expert negotiators: Neil Rackham, “The Behavior of Successful Negotiators,” in Negotiation: Readings, Exercises, and Cases, ed. R. Lewicki, B. Barry, and D. M. Saunders (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007).
insurance salespeople: Philip M. Podsakoff , Scott B. MacKenzie, Julie B. Paine, and Daniel G. Bachrach, “Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Critical Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature and Suggestions for Future Research,” Journal of Management 26 (2000): 513–563.
pharmaceutical salespeople: Carl J. Thoresen, Jill C. Bradley, Paul D. Bliese, and Joseph D. Thoresen, “The Big Five Personality Traits and Individual Job Performance Growth Trajectories in Maintenance and Transitional Job Stages,” Journal of Applied Psychology 89 (2004): 835–853.
salespeople responsible for women’s products: Fernando Jaramillo and Douglas B. Grisaffe, “Does Customer Orientation Impact Objective Sales Performance? Insights from a Longitudinal Model in Direct Selling,” Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management XXIX (2009): 167–178.
planning to vote: Anthony G. Greenwald, Catherine G. Carnot, Rebecca Beach, and Barbara Young, “Increasing Voting Behavior by Asking People if They Expect to Vote,” Journal of Applied Psychology 72 (1987): 315–318.
we get suspicious: Marian Friestad and Peter Wright, “The Persuasion Knowledge Model: How People Cope with Persuasion Attempts,” Journal of Consumer Research 21 (1994): 1–31; Jack Brehm, A Theory of Psychological Reactance (New York: Academic Press, 1966); and John Biondo and A. P. MacDonald Jr., “Internal-External Locus of Control and Response to Influence Attempts,” Journal of Personality 39 (1971): 407–419.
self-persuasion: Elliot Aronson, “The Power of Self-Persuasion,” American Psychologist 54 (1999): 875–884.
intention questions: Patti Williams, Gavan Fitzsimons, and Lauren Block, “When Consumers Do Not Recognize ‘Benign’ Intention Questions and Persuasion Attempts,” Journal of Consumer Research 31 (2004): 540–550.
Don Lane: Personal interviews (December 16, 2011, and March 30, 2012).
talking tentatively: Alison R. Fragale, “The Power of Powerless Speech: The Effects of Speech Style and Task Interdependence on Status Conferral,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 101 (2006): 243–261; see also Uma R. Karmarkar and Zakary L. Tormala, “Believe Me, I Have No Idea What I’m Talking About: The Effects of Source Certainty on Consumer Involvement and Persuasion,” Journal of Consumer Research 36 (2010): 1033–1049.
Disclaimer: Amani El-Alayli, Christoffer J. Myers, Tamara L. Petersen, and Amy L. Lystad, “I Don’t Mean to Sound Arrogant, But . . . The Effects of Using Disclaimers on Person Perception,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 34 (2008): 130–143.
Barton Hill: Personal interview (March 19, 2012).
psychologists in California: Cameron Anderson and Gavin J. Kilduff , “Why Do Dominant Personalities Attain Influence in Face-to-Face Groups? The Competence-Signaling Effects of Trait Dominance,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 96 (2009): 491–503.
Psychologists in Amsterdam: Barbora Nevicka, Femke S. Ten Velden, Annebel H. B. de Hoogh, and Annelies E. M. Van Vianen, “Reality at Odds with Perception: Narcissistic Leaders and Group Performance,” Psychological Science 22 (2011): 1259–1264.
pizza franchises: Adam M. Grant, Francesca Gino, and David A. Hofmann, “Reversing the Extraverted Leadership Advantage: The Role of Employee Proactivity,” Academy of Management Journal 54 (2011): 528–550.
research scientist: Personal interview with Annie (June 13, 2012).
exercising influence when we lack authority: Katie A. Liljenquist, “Resolving the Impression Management Dilemma: The Strategic Benefits of Soliciting Others for Advice” (PhD diss., Northwestern University, 2010); and Katie A. Lil
jenquist and Adam Galinsky, “Turn Your Adversary into Your Advocate,” Negotiation (2007): 4–6.
effective ways to influence: Gary Yukl and J. Bruce Tracey, “Consequences of Influence Tactics Used with Subordinates, Peers, and the Boss,” Journal of Applied Psychology 77 (1992): 525–535; and Gary Yukl, Helen Kim, and Cecilia M. Falbe, “Antecedents of Influence Outcomes,” Journal of Applied Psychology 81 (1996): 309–317.
Board seats: Ithai Stern and James D. Westphal, “Stealthy Footsteps to the Boardroom: Executives’ Backgrounds, Sophisticated Interpersonal Influence Behavior, and Board Appointments,” Administrative Science Quarterly 55 (2010): 278–319.
regularly seek advice and help: Arie Nadler, Shmuel Ellis, and Iris Bar, “To Seek or Not to Seek: The Relationship between Help Seeking and Job Performance Evaluations as Moderated by Task-Relevant Expertise,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 33 (2003): 91–109.
“As a favor to me”: Jon Jecker and David Landy, “Liking a Person as a Function of Doing Him a Favour,” Human Relations 22 (1969): 371–378.
“He that has once done you a kindness”: Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (New York: Dover, 1868/1996), 80.
“fundamental rule for winning friends”: Walter Isaacson, “Poor Richard’s Flattery,” New York Times, July 14, 2003.
Chapter 6: The Art of Motivation Maintenance
Opening quote: Herbert Simon, “Altruism and Economics,” American Economic Review 83 (1993): 157.
what motivates highly successful givers: Jeremy A. Frimer, Lawrence J. Walker, William L. Dunlop, Brenda H. Lee, and Amanda Riches, “The Integration of Agency and Communion in Moral Personality: Evidence of Enlightened Self-Interest,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 101 (2011): 149–163.
