Talks & Entertainment

We hear about successful nonconformists – people who buck the trend and enjoy great acclaim in wide-ranging fields – and we assume certain things about them. They’re geniuses. Born leaders. They’re self-assured and embrace risk. In short, they are something other than the rest of us.

In Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, Grant—the bestselling author of Give and Take—debunks these assumptions. Grant has found that trailblazers share some counterintuitive characteristics. They tend to be expert procrastinators; are often late bloomers and late adopters; usually have only moderate expertise in their given field but a wide range of outside interests; and are actually more cautious than their colleagues. They are as self-doubting as the rest of us, but they’ve learned how to move forward in the face of their fears.

True champions of change often look a lot different up close than their reputations suggest, and they’re often made, not born. With Originals, Grant challenges the idea that to be groundbreaking, one must move fast and take enormous risks. Grant proves that true originals are driven by the awareness that failing yields less regret than failing to try.

Grant is Wharton’s top-rated teacher. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 40 best business professors under 40. Previously, he was an advertising director, a Junior Olympic springboard diver, and a professional magician. In conversation with Dan Pink, the bestselling author of A Whole New Mind, Drive, and To Sell is Human. Book signing to follow.