Hidden Potential

The Science of Achieving Greater Things

By: Adam Grant

Narrated by: Adam Grant, Maurice Ashley, R. A. Dickey, Evelyn Glennie, Sara Maria Hasbun, Francis Idehen, Alison Levine, Benny Lewis, Kari Louhivuori, Nelli Louhivuori, Brandon Payne, Richard Pine, Gil Winch, full cast

Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

“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, 23-time Grand Slam singles tennis champion

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again illuminates how we can elevate ourselves and others to unexpected heights.

We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.

Hidden Potential offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Adam Grant weaves together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid storytelling that takes us from the classroom to the boardroom, the playground to the Olympics, and underground to outer space. He shows that progress depends less on how hard you work than how well you learn. Growth is not about the genius you possess—it’s about the character you develop. Grant explores how to build the character skills and motivational structures to realize our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities for those who have been underrated and overlooked.

Many writers have chronicled the habits of superstars who accomplish great things. This book reveals how anyone can rise to achieve greater things. The true measure of your potential is not the height of the peak you’ve reached, but how far you’ve climbed to get there.

Featuring Maurice Ashley, William DeMerritt, R.A. Dickey, Jane Dutton, Kevin R. Free, Evelyn Glennie, Sara Maria Hasbun, Francis Idehen, Lauren Klein, Helen Laser, Alison Levine, Benny Lewis, Kari Louhivuori, Nelli Louhivuori, Brandon Payne, Richard Pine, Paul Stillwell, Julianna Wilson, and Gil Winch. Special appearances by Dave Barry, Eric Best, Amy Edmondson, Mellody Hobson, Steve Martin, Lin Manuel Miranda, John Spencer Jr., Gil Winch, Anita Woolley, and Julius Yego, and featuring members of the Golden 13 Samuel Barnes, George Cooper, John Dille, Frank Sublett, and William White.

This audiobook edition features clips from the TED podcasts WorkLife and ReThinking, courtesy of TED.

It also includes audio from the following sources:

“Anthem” by Leonard Cohen courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment. Written by Leonard Cohen, courtesy of Sony Music Publishing.

“Evelyn Glennie Improvisation on Drums” by Evelyn Glennie, © copyright 2023 Evelyn Glennie, used by permission of Evelyn Glennie.

“Golden 13 Interviews” Courtesy of the US Naval Institute.

“Julius Yego—The YouTube Man” courtesy of GoPro, Inc.

Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents Dinner: Courtesy CNN.

Excerpts of BORN STANDING UP reproduced with the permission of Simon & Schuster Audio, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from BORN STANDING UP by Steve Martin.

©2007 40 Share Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.

(P)2007 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of charts, graphs, images, and actions for impact.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Adam Grant (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“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, 23-time Grand Slam singles tennis champion

“This is a book that should be read by parents, leaders, coaches, and every school board member in America. Adam Grant reveals that everything you think about developing potential is wrong.”—Mark Cuban, Shark Tank investor, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and cofounder of Cost Plus Drugs

“I read Hidden Potential in one sitting, loved it, and have been thinking about it ever since. Which is the highest praise I can give a book. This is Adam Grant's finest work—it will inspire you to bigger dreams.”—Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers and host of Revisionist History

The book that confirms so much of self-help.

Great book that shows us how to lead lives and teams and dream big… with science.

Great first PD book

Will preface by saying I love Adam grant. I can’t let that sway my opinion of this book in how I received it.
Performance on this book was outstanding as an audiobook. Others could take notes!
I found though, while the book was intriguing, and had tidbits of “help” in it, it was more just story telling. The stories were interesting and maybe helpful to some, but, for me was just meh.
I would have enjoyed this as a podcast maybe.
It won’t stop me from reading more from Adam though.

Views from a different angle

This book was very well written and kept the audience engaged by using relatable and current topics/scenarios!

A masterwork for all to reach higher

Love Adams narration, and audio clips from people he is utilizing to teach. Loved Think Again but this one is a must for all to learn from!

Fantastic

This book was much better than I ever thought it would be. Great real life examples. Guest speakers voiced several parts I highly recommend it.

Very well done. Flows well with lots to apply

Adam Grant did a magnificent job here. He tells stories, adds research, and gives you actions steps to follow so you can apply them in your life. Read it and apply it.

Another good book by AG

Another good book by AG and worth the investment. Has trademark style of being relatively brief and concise not fluff like other authors.

Another “page turner”…

Adam is an expert at weaving practical insights in with his personal and other people’s experiences, reputable studies and engaging story telling. It is refreshing and thought provoking:

Great Takeaways

While it can be a little dry / academic at times for my taste, there are some great gems and takeaways in here. The author is very easy to listen to.

His best book to date yet!

Thank you, Adam. You’re an inspiration. Thank you for sharing ideas (e.g., studies) to the masses in ways that not only make them palatable, but also make them resonate more with the readers. I hope to be able to unearth and nurture my own hidden potential.