Give and Take: WHY HELPING OTHERS DRIVES OUR SUCCESS (eBook, PDF, Free Download)
Book Cover:
Book Description :
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.
Book Reviews:
" After I read the NY Times profile on Adam Grant last year, this book has been on my list. The idea that giving and being generous with your time will help you get ahead in life seemed sort of interesting. Now that I'm in social work school, I think that most of his argument is bullshit, and is written for business/finance/wealthy people in general. Grant writes from a place of incredible privilege (white, male, educated, wealthy, heterosexual, you name it), and the premise of the book is that by caring about other people, you will make more money. He says that it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game, that by helping others to be successful, you help yourself also. The big issue for me is that the book is full of examples of well-off people helping other well-off people. Sure, Grant threw in a story about a young, white, female Teach for America teacher in Philadelphia mentoring poor Black teenagers... but as far as I remember, that was the only anecdote about a person helping other people who could truly be described as "disadvantaged".
The other thing that Grant doesn't talk about are gender differences in socialization that necessarily contribute to this giver/taker/matcher question. He dismisses the entire concept in one sentence, denying that there are any differences between men and women, yet throughout the book he cites statistics that show that women consistently seem to accomplish and earn less than their male counterparts. I know this book was written for men in business, but I think its irresponsible that Grant never fully accounts for the fact that women face unique challenges by being socialized to be selfless givers as opposed to what he calls "otherish" givers, who look out for themselves as well as others. Theres no question that men and women face different challenges, and its sexist to ignore it.
I admit that I liked the parts about volunteering and reciprocity. I like that he promotes service and talks a lot about Freecycle. The Reciprocity Ring idea is also really cool. "
