Book Review- Give and Take by Adam Grant

This goody-good book is well-written and well-directed, anecdotes filled, with the attractive title “Give and Take”.

A few of the stories and topics that stuck with me are- 

"Good Return", wherein the fantastic tale of giver Adam Rifkin, an entrepreneur, is shared; "The Ripple Effect" talks about a humble cartoonist, George Meyer; then a chapter titled "Finding Diamond in Rough" brings about the story of a famous accounting professor CJ Skenderwho who invariably believes in his students. The concepts of "Freecycle" and The "Reciprocity Ring" are also really cool.

The book highlights what effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation, and leadership skills have in common. In the modern working world, the individual drivers of success, i.e. passion, hard work, talent, and luck, depend on how we interact with others. 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. 

Given Grant, Givers are the winners.

My view of the book is quite strong. The idea that giving and being generous with our time will help us get ahead in life seems unrealistic. Now that I am in the workplace, most of his arguments seem impractical and instead belong to some utopian world.

However, I love that he emphasises human aspects in work environments (especially reading the concept during these times of Gen AI) by being consistent in our efforts to build trust and rapport. I read a quote on Trust somewhere: “Trust, like love and happiness, is difficult for people to explain in clear, rational terms,” and we all agree that it is “hard to build but easy to destroy.”

If everyone starts to follow the concepts highlighted in the book, our planet will be a heavenly place to live, and our organisations will be incredible places to work and progress. 


Quotes from the book-

“You never know where somebody’s going to end up. It’s not just about building your reputation; ly is about being there for other people.”

“...above all, I want to demonstrate that success doesn’t have to come at someone else’s expense...”

“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”

“Talented people are attracted to those who care about them.”

“When we treat man as he is, we make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be.”