The Leader as a Preacher, Politician, Prosecutor or Scientist

In his book Think Again, organizational psychologist Adam Grant argues that business leaders need to think like scientists rather than preachers, politicians, or prosecutors. What are the characteristics of those four modes of thinking? Like any good consultant, I immediately wanted to map this out into a four-quadrant grid. Below is my interpretation.

The vertical axis is your mission: either finding the truth, or striving to win. The horizontal axis is your method: invoking belief or faith on the left side, versus relying on evidence on the right.

• Scientist: I rely on evidence with the goal of finding the truth. I am happy to change my belief (hypothesis) when confronted with evidence.

• Preacher: I often act on faith alone in my quest for the truth.

• Prosecutor: I seek to win using evidence, often by attacking the other side and dismissing their evidence.

• Politician: I seek to win using my belief system, often by attacking the other side.

A good leader should reflect on her own mindset and actions.

• What are some examples of situations where I acted like a Preacher, Prosecutor, or Politician?

• Which mode is my bias?

• Do I need to shift my mindset to act more like a scientist?

The Scientist mindset can be summed up with one simple phrase": “I might be wrong.”