What Frogs in Hot Water Can Teach Us About Thinking Again

In this Ted talk, Ethical Systems collaborator Adam Grant discusses biases that prevent us from changing course, like doubling down on a commitment to show others, or perhaps ourselves, that we made the right decision.

Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Why are humans so slow to react to looming crises, like a forewarned pandemic or a warming planet? Grant says it’s because we’re reluctant to rethink. From a near-disastrous hike on Panama’s highest mountain to courageously joining his high school’s diving team, Grant borrows examples from his own life to illustrate how tunnel vision around our goals, habits and identities can find us stuck on a narrow path. Drawing on his research, he shares counterintuitive insights on how to broaden your focus and remain open to opportunities for rethinking. (If you think you know something about frogs, watch until the end and get ready to think again.)