How Adam Grant uses data and intuition to make life decisions | from WorkLife with Molly Graham

About this episode

Adam Grant discusses how he makes life decisions using a blend of data and intuition.

Most of us assume data-driven people make data-driven decisions. Not quite. Adam Grant has built a career helping others think more clearly — but when it comes to his own career, the most important calls he’s made didn’t have clear data behind them. So how did he decide? In this first episode of WorkLife with Molly Graham, Adam joins Molly to talk about how he actually navigates uncertainty — the four questions he asks before committing to any big project, what he calls “deliberate then dive”, and how he measures success when the numbers don’t tell the whole story. WorkLife is a podcast from TED where host and company builder Molly Graham and her expert guests talk through the messy feelings we all experience at work. Ambition and failure, joy and burnout, confidence and self-doubt — this show digs into it all to help you build a career without losing yourself. Listen now: https://link.mgln.ai/BVK6Sn ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard . Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith. For the full text transcript, visit…

People in this episode

Host: Molly Graham

Guest: Adam Grant

Topics covered

• data-driven decisions
• career navigation
• uncertainty
• success measurement
• workplace emotions

Keywords

• data
• intuition
• career decisions
• uncertainty
• success
• WorkLife
• Molly Graham

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: TED, Cosmic Standard

More episodes of ReThinking

• Why a digital detox won’t reset your attention span with Gloria Mark · June 9, 2026 · 43 min
• What is greatness? with Chuck Klosterman · June 2, 2026 · 39 min
• The one skill you need to succeed in your career in a turbulent world - by Adam Grant | from Radio Davos · May 26, 2026 · 32 min
• The antidote to injustice with Bryan Stevenson · May 19, 2026 · 48 min
• The science of effective parenting with Aliza Pressman · May 12, 2026 · 37 min
• The power of constraints with David Epstein · May 5, 2026 · 38 min