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Give and Take
A Revolutionary Approach to Success
Give and Take offers a breath of fresh air to traditional theories of what it takes to be successful. Backed by ground-breaking research, Give and Take demonstrates how giving more to others, rather than competing against them, may be the secret to profound success and fulfillment.
- Anyone who wants to understand how those who give become so successful
- Anyone who wants to learn how to influence others without being domineering
- Anyone who suffers from burnout by giving too much to others
Adam Grant is an award-winning organizational psychologist and a professor at Wharton Business School. He has over 60 journal publications and has presented for many prestigious organizations, such as Google, Facebook and the United Nations.
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Give and Take
A Revolutionary Approach to Success
- Read in 16 minutes
- Audio & text available
- Contains 10 key ideas
Synopsis
Give and Take offers a breath of fresh air to traditional theories of what it takes to be successful. Backed by ground-breaking research, Give and Take demonstrates how giving more to others, rather than competing against them, may be the secret to profound success and fulfillment.
Key idea 1 of 10
Givers are driven by the desire to help others and create success for the group.
Most of us can recall a time when we were touched by the generosity of another person. Perhaps they gave us advice, offered a job opportunity or helped us with a difficult task, all without expecting anything in return. These people are givers.
The keystone trait of the giver is that in most transactions they give far more than they get. They are generous with their knowledge and time, and they will often forgo personal credit for the good of a common goal. Their main focus is to provide value for others; having their help reciprocated is either irrelevant or a bonus. The way givers see it, helping other people is its own reward as it makes the givers themselves feel good too.
George Meyer, Emmy Award-winning writer for The Simpsons, is a classic example of a giver. Meyer routinely encouraged other writers to use his ideas without asking for personal credit. So, although he helped shape over 300 episodes of The Simpsons, he is only credited for 12. Nevertheless, what mattered more to him than keeping count of personal credit was seeing the show succeed. Meyer also invented the word ‘meh’, an expression of boredom, which was first used by Bart on the show and can today be found in the dictionary. However, even here Meyer was so unconcerned with claiming credit that he actually forgot it was he who had invented the word. The success of the show truly was his main objective.
Givers understand the benefits of collaborative achievement and strive to create abundance for as many people as possible.
Givers are driven by the desire to help others and create success for the group.
Key ideas in this title
- Givers are driven by the desire to help others and create success for the group.
- Somewhere in between givers and takers, matchers strive for equal, fair exchanges with others.
- How much we give or take is shaped by who we interact with.
- Persistent takers lose respect and damage their reputations.
- Givers often achieve the top positions in society because they focus on the greater good.
- Successful givers cultivate and use their vast networks to benefit others as well as themselves.
- Givers see potential in everyone they meet, making them formidable at finding and nurturing talent.
- Powerless communication puts givers at a powerful advantage.
- Givers are only successful if they can avoid burnout or being abused by takers.
- Final Summary
