Title: Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success
Author: Grant, Adam
Call Number: 158.2 G761G 2013
Subjects: Success-Psychological Aspects; Success in
Business-Psychological Aspects; Interpersonal Relations-Psychological Aspects;
Social Networks-Psychological
Number of Pages: 305
ISBN: 9780670026555
Book Description:
For
generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion,
hard work, talent, and luck. But in today’s dramatically reconfigured world,
success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. Give and Take
illuminates what effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation,
and leadership skills have in common.
Adam Grant,
an award-winning researcher and Wharton’s highest-rated professor, examines the
surprising forces that shape why some people rise to the top of the success
ladder while others sink to the bottom. In professional interactions, it turns
out that most people operate as either takers, matchers, or givers. Whereas
takers strive to get as much as possible from others and matchers aim to trade
evenly, givers are the rare breed of people who contribute to others without
expecting anything in return.
Using his
own groundbreaking studies, Grant reveals that these styles have a dramatic impact
on success. Although some givers get exploited and burn out, the rest achieve
extraordinary results across a wide range of industries. Combining cutting-edge
evidence with captivating stories, this landmark book shows how one of
America’s best networkers developed his connections; why the creative genius
behind one of the most popular shows in television history toiled for years in
anonymity; how a basketball executive responsible for multiple draft busts
transformed his franchise into a winner; and how we could have anticipated
Enron’s demise four years before the company collapsed-without ever looking at
a single number.
Praised by
social scientists, business theorists, and corporate leaders, Give and Take
opens up an approach to work, interactions, and productivity that is nothing
short of revolutionary. This visionary approach to success has the power to
transform not just individuals and groups but entire organizations and
communities.
My Read:
The title
of the chapter four in this book says it all: Finding the Diamond in the Rough.
It’s what happened at the time I was packing for my latest trip to the Zion National
Park. The night before the trip I accidentally
ran into this book that I checked out from the library weeks ago. Instead of
the laptop, I packed this book in my bag. It turned out that it’s a good pick.
After
leafing the table of contents I chose chapter five to begin the book; it’s
called The Power of Powerless Communication. Some saying in this chapter struck
a chord; I felt something warm piling up at the bedtime. It’s the list of
tentative markers the author compiled on the page 144. I had no clue that for
years I have practiced those markers in my life. Amazing how an author is
capable of gathering results of studies and put them into words for the world
to peruse and pursue.
Givers are
kindhearted, friendly, humble, and silently intelligent. After finishing this
book I got impression that to give is like the art of Tai Chi. From the outside
what a person sees the Tai Chi is slow motion, soft, and forceless. One would
wonder how the exercise of Tai Chi could keep the rivals away or even retreat
the opponents without injury. Because the more one pushes his/her forces the
more resistant one would get from the other person or people. The Chinese have
a saying: 以退為進 meaning:
to retreat in order to advance or to make concessions in order to gain
advantages.
The author
advises that, in addition to the three elements for success: motivation,
ability, and luck, there is this fourth factor essential enough for someone to
not only succeed individually but also make impact and influence on others.
It’s how a person approaches his interactions with other people. It’s not the
what but how matters. He also mentions that it’s not usually the talents or
skills that impress a scout or a coach/mentor; it’s the passion, perseverance,
and work ethic that make a person stand out among his peers/opponents. That
reinforces what I have always believed: mindset and attitude speak a loud
language I couldn’t ignore or bypass.
Some of the
words in this book deserve some time to peruse, digest, and reflect:
-Giving and taking are based on our motives and values, and
they’re choices that we make regardless of whether our personalities trend
agreeable or disagreeable.—page 192
-But when givers are advocating for someone else, pushing is
closely aligned with their values of protecting and promoting the interests of
others; givers can chalk it up to caring.—page 208
-The more we work to distinguish ourselves from others, the
greater our risk of losing our sense of belongingness.—page 233
-The only way you can really know is if you ask the patient
and you have a dialogue-page 88 about responsibility bias
Interesting Websites:
LoveMachine-www.lovemachineinc.com
106 Miles Meetup-www.meetup.com/106miles
Venture Blog-www.ventureblog.com
Susan Cain-www.thepowerofintroverts.com
Freecycle-www.freecycle.org
Servicespace-www.servicespace.org
HopeMob-http://hopemob.org
GoGiver-www.thegogiver.com/community
Kiva-wwwkiva.org
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