How did I hear about it?

Give and Take is one of those books that seem to have always been, inexplicably, near the top of my reading list. I knew I really wanted to read it but had no idea why. I had never heard of the author, no one I know has ever admitted to reading it and the title clearly didn’t get reviewed by a marketing agency (or at the very least i hope they had a generous refund policy).

More than likely I read some other book and at the end my kindle said “People who read this also liked… Give and Take” and being nothing but a hairless ape I went along with the shrewdness. Yes folks, a group of apes is called a shrewdness, just one of the many facts you’ll learn here. I digress.

Now I’ve completed it and …?

Give and Take follows the age old tradition of social science books by making a bold assertion then following up with copious amounts of evidence in the form of research and anecdotes. Adam Grant does this particularly well by sharing stories that start out as doom and gloom case studies in naïvety but inevitably ends with everyone living happily ever after. He does it throughout the book in varying forms and on each occasion I’m left surprised at the outcome.

In a nutshell the book suggests that there are three types of people. Takers see others as exploitable and use them as stepping stones to satisfy their own goals. Givers help others out of a sense of duty to society and therefore look for nothing in return. Matchers treat others in the way they’re treated and so give to receive and take to compensate. It’s pretty obvious that most people are Matchers. As for the Givers and Takers you can pretty much guess which one of those most often find themselves at the bottom of the pile. And if you guessed Takers then according to Grant you guessed wrong.

Takers seem to only do well in short term and/or zero sum situations. Once they’re found out, news spreads quickly and everyone becomes guarded when dealing with them. Who would have guessed, most people don’t like being exploited and don’t like seeing others being exploited. If you’re a Giver you have the opposite effect, all the matchers as well as other givers start routing for you. Interestingly, the act of giving/helping others actually increases the size of the pie, so the more people give the more opportunities there are for all of us. Why aren’t we all giving?

What are some sample quotes?

You can’t just ignore someone because you don’t think they’re important enough

The fear of being judged as weak or naïve prevents many people from operating like givers at work

If we create networks with the sole intention of getting something, we won’t succeed

We should see networks as a vehicle for creating value for everyone, not just claiming it for ourselves

You should be willing to do something that will take you five minutes or less for anybody

Even in seemingly independent jobs that rely on raw brainpower, our success depends more on others than we realize

Givers get extra credit when they offer ideas that challenge the status quo

Was it worth the money?

I’m going to be honest, I really like this book. I really, really like it. I first read it a few months ago then basically re-read it to write this review, which I don’t normally do. The problem is that the message is so potent and so appealing and so basic that a simple blog post would have sufficed. In fact I could say it in just 4 words: Don’t be a dick!

Verdict: Hold.