Thinking like a scientist in self-help is Brené Brown’s latest TEDx flex. This time she joins forces with Adam Grant for a kumbaya of cognitive humility and Scooby-Doo metaphors. It’s rethinking—but branded.
This is Chapter 6 of Solid Ground, where Brené Brown hands the mic to Adam Grant and things go full LinkedIn Thought Leader.
The title?
On Searching for Reasons We Might Be Wrong.
The vibe?
TEDx meets therapy session with a keynote from your favorite HR software sponsor.
Brené and Adam start with a humblebrag backstory, apparently, they first “met” in a public LinkedIn fight over authenticity.
Thinking Like A Scientist In Self-Help
Fast forward a few years and a turbulent flight later, and boom—intellectual besties. Naturally.
Adam’s book Think Again gets top billing here.
It’s all about how we should be more open to revising our beliefs, except ironically delivered in the tone of someone who’s very sure of their own.
His preacher/prosecutor/politician/scientist framework is basically Hogwarts houses for bias.
Take the quiz, learn your brain type, and pretend you’ve never heard of confirmation bias before.
“We favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt… We still cling to opinions we formed in 1995.”
Relatable? Absolutely. Revolutionary? Maybe not.
But also, let’s not act like everyone reading this isn’t already clinging to their Enneagram number and a stack of self-help books from 2013.
This isn’t cognitive humility.
It’s curated vulnerability with a side of analytics.
Brené’s job here is to translate Adam’s data-driven musings into feelings and metaphors.
She compares their teamwork to a Scooby-Doo episode: he’s Batman, she brings the van and the snacks.
That’s not a joke—she actually wrote that.
Apparently, rethinking requires capes now.
There’s also a startup study from Milan showing that founders who “think like scientists” made more money.
Groundbreaking: people who adapt when stuff doesn’t work… do better.
But don’t worry, it’s not all business cases.
There are presidential references, Albert Einstein quotes, and a final crescendo about how we’re all prisoners of our own convictions.
Unless we embrace the uncertainty.
Beautiful. Poetic. And entirely predictable from the self-help council of cognitive elites.
“If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.”
This is deep, my friend.
More profound than finding your strong ground or doing the Tush Push moves,
But if branding that quote sells another 100,000 copies of Think Again, that’s just good marketing science.
What Brené Brown And Adam Grant Get Right
For all the self-aware irony, Strong Ground’s Chapter 6 does make an important point: rethinking is a habit of humility.
Thinking like a scientist in self-help means testing your assumptions instead of defending them.
It’s about curiosity over certainty — a mindset most of us claim to have but rarely practice.
Brown and Grant’s collaboration works best when it reminds readers that intellectual humility isn’t weakness; it’s daring leadership.
The challenge is keeping that message from turning into just another branded TED mantra.
Final Thoughts
“Thinking like a scientist” sounds simple until you actually have to admit you might be wrong — especially in a world built on personal brands and perfectly curated opinions.
Strong Ground Chapter 6 offers both a mirror and a meme: a reminder that growth isn’t about being right.
It’s about rethinking, revising, and occasionally, rebooting your own logic.
Snarky Quotes On Rethinking & Bias
Adam Grant wants us to think like scientists, but lucky for you, Snarky Suzie prefers experiments in sarcasm.
Here are some prime quotes from the chapter—now with 30% more sass and 0% peer review.
“We listen to views that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard.”
“…how easily we slip into different 'professional mindsets' when we are framing, selling, or defending our ideas, and how curiosity and thinking like a scientist can help us make more informed choices and decisions.”
“We have to challenge ourselves to challenge our thinking.”
“Rethinking is a skill set, but it’s also a mindset. We already have many of the mental tools we need.”
“…when it comes to our own knowledge and opinions, we often favor feeling right over being right.”
“Good scientists are aware of the limits of their understanding. They’re expected to doubt what they know, be curious about what they don’t know, and update their views based on new data.”
“…being a scientist is not just a profession. It’s a frame of mind—a mode of thinking that differs from preaching, prosecuting, and politicking.”
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