Best Results: Givers or Takers?

Which attitude produces the best results: Giving or Taking?

Professor Adam Grant has researched this question in depth.

Following are some compelling reasons to put the book Give and Take by Adam Grant on your must-read (or must-listen list):

“Give and Take”, is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, translated into 30 languages​!

It was named one of the best books of the year by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Oprah says it’s one of her most riveting reads.

This book is on Fortune’s must-read business books, Harvard Business Review’s ideas that shaped management, and the Washington Post’s books every leader should read.

For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck.

But today, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others.

It turns out that at work, 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 pioneering research as Wharton’s top-rated professor, Adam Grant shows that these styles have a surprising 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, Grant 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.
How we could have anticipated Enron’s demise four years before the company collapsed (without extensive financial analysis)

Many people have a taking style – erroneously believing they are givers.
Uppermost in their minds is achieving short-term gains before actually earning trust.

Professor Grant’s research shows that the only time Takers achieve greater results is in the short term - (typically less than one year).

After that, the returns accruing to Givers far outweigh the short-term gains achieved by Takers.

Suppose you are interested in achieving your best individual results over the medium to long term. In that case, it’s worth getting your head around this concept, and we recommend reading Professor Grant’s book.

Even if your natural style leans towards impatience for short-term results, it may be worth considering how you can authentically adjust your style for far greater results in the medium to long-term.

Following is the audio from a great TED talk by professor Adam Grant....