At the beginning of 2024, to be precise on 18th January, I attended an event organized by Intelligence Squared, where Tim Harford interviewed Adam Grant about his new book, Hidden Potential.

That was my first time at an Intelligence Squared event, which organizes talks on politics, culture, and science.

Unlike TED conferences, Intelligence Squared focuses on live debates, often presenting opposing viewpoints. Its events are interactive, with audience participation through Q&A sessions. They are primarily based in London.

I am a fan of Adam Grant. He is an organizational psychologist, writer, TED speaker, and podcaster.

Adam hosts the podcast ReThinking, where he interviews inspiring people. The best part of his interviews is that he doesn’t take answers for granted (pun not intended).

I remember the episode with Cal Newport: He tried to convince Cal Newport, who is the author of the book Deep Work and very critical of social media, to open a Twitter account :)

That evening at Intelligence Squared, Adam shared beautiful stories about people who achieved remarkable results, analyzing their processes and highlighting the key factors that enabled their success.

One memorable story was about Maurice Ashley, who coached a group of Black teenagers from Harlem who had never played chess. His group went on to win the National Junior High Chess Championships. Adam explained the strategies and "scaffolding" Maurice used to engage his team and keep them focused and motivated.

Tim Harford made the conversation engaging and fun, involving the audience, who asked many questions.

That evening, I bought Adam’s book, Hidden Potential. Adam kindly signed it, and I read it in the days following the event.

The book was as great as the event itself.

The good news is that the talk is available online.

You can watch it at Adam Grant on Achieving Greatness, with Tim Harford.

An informative and entertaining talk, an hour well-spent!