The world of business is often described as “cutthroat” and competitive, earning the stereotype of attracting people who “are in it for themselves” or “aren’t here to make friends.” But as anyone in the business world knows, the industry is more varied than the bad behavior that dominates headlines. There are people who succeed by taking, giving, or a little bit of both.
In Adam Grant’s Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, this issue is put under a microscope and is found to yield some astonishing results. Takers may be the most notorious figures on the scene, but givers succeed the most… as well as fail the most. Grant offers surprising insights, stories and advice on how to improve yourself and thrive, no matter where you fall on the scale.
Most important, he makes a case for how giving can be incredibly powerful in a “me first” kind of world.
Here is a summary from Amazon:
“A groundbreaking look at why our interactions with others hold the key to success, from the bestselling author of Originals.
“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. In Give and Take, 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. 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.”
