About a month ago, Adam Grant announced in his newsletter,
, that he would be giving away 100 free copies of his latest book: Hidden Potential. It was no surprise that the response was huge. Thousands of people posted questions about the book or about potential or both. Alas! I did not win a free copy. However, I did race to my local public library and put a copy on hold.In the
chat, one question by caught my attention.How can the American education system incorporate principles of unleashing hidden potential, especially for those who have been historically underserved by the system?
As an anti-racist educator, I immediately commented with a suggestion that there should be a book club about our experiences as teachers trying to relate Adam Grant’s principles into public education. I hoped that perhaps Adam would host something via his newsletter and I was excited to participate.
What I did not expect was the response I got from the suggestion. There were so many educators and people connected to public education interested in reading Hidden Potential and discussing it through the lens of releasing the potential of marginalized students in public education.
I’ve spent the last month trying to figure out a way to host an asynchronous book club with people all over the world. I’ve never done something like this before. I thought about hosting something via social media, but, honestly, I’m a bit annoyed with X and I don’t think LinkedIn is an appropriate venue. Adam Grant has kindly published discussion questions for book clubs to use.
So, why not Substack? It seems to be a natural fit to use Adam Grant’s newsletter chat to allow his audience to participate. The only problem is that I don’t think Adam has plans to host a book club. To be fair, I’m sure he has a ridiculous schedule that includes a book tour, chatting with Oprah, and teaching his psychology courses at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Since I’m so excited to get started reading, that leaves me.
I’m happy to volunteer to host a Hidden Potential book club so that educators can make connections to Grant’s principles while discussing the realities of integrating them into public education.
As I understand it, for me to host and facilitate an chat in my newsletter’s Notes, people will have to subscribe to my newsletter.
I feel uncomfortable asking people to subscribe to my nascent newsletter. However, if you are interested in joining this asynchronous book club chat, I don’t see any other way. I think most people will subscribe, participate in the book club, and then unsubscribe. That’s fine with me!
So that you can gauge your level of commitment, here is a preliminary plan.
The Plan
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant is divided into three sections (Skills of Character, Structures for Motivation, and Systems of Opportunity) with three chapters per section. Since I’m a slow reader, and Adam has 30 discussion questions available, I think we should read from November/December to June/July. Instead of reading certain chapters by certain times, anyone can chime in and post their thoughts based on the question(s), no matter where they are in the book.
This gives us about 30 weeks to read 10 chapters (including the Epilogue). There is a section at the end of the book titled Actions for Impact that could lead to some incredible conversation.
The Schedule
Week of November 27 - Introductions and Intentions (Prologue)
Week of December 11 - Skills of Character (Chapter 1: Creatures of Discomfort)
Week of January 1 - Chapter 2: Human Sponges
Week of January 22 - Chapter 3: The Imperfectionists
Week of February 12 - Structures for Motivation (Chapter 4: Transforming the Daily Grind)
Week of March 4 - Chapter 5: Getting Unstuck
Week of March 25 - Chapter 6: Defying Gravity
Week of April 29 - Systems of Opportunity (Chapter 7: Every Child Gets Ahead)
Week of May 20 - Chapter 8: Mining for Gold
Week of June 3 - Chapter 9: Diamonds in the Rough
Week of July 1 - Epilogue and Reflection
Every 2-3 weeks, I will post a discussion question from Adam’s list or one of his Actions for Impact practical takeaways for unlocking hidden potential and achieving greater things. The discussion will take place asynchronously so that people can participate based on their schedule. Everyone can chat about any connections to the book.
I will set some ground rules, moderate the discussion, and facilitate as needed. Whether you are a teacher, parent, community member, or have some other connection or interest in public education, I think we should read the book through the lens of
’s original question.How can the American education system incorporate principles of unleashing hidden potential, especially for those who have been historically underserved by the system?
I don’t want to necessarily lead the conversation; instead I’m happy to keep it going when things slow down and help connect ideas people. I want this book club to be run by you all!
How does this sound? Would this schedule work for you? Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions for the Hidden Potential book club.
If you are interested in joining, feel free to grab a copy of Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things, subscribe to my newsletter, and get ready to read and connect!
I'm in this book is amazing and I'm only 1/2 way through the first part.
So proud of myself...I posted my first writing. It took me a while to figure out the format of the template.
Does the format look ok?