Give and Take

• Robert Carnes

Give and Take

By Adam Grant

Rating: 5/5

Three-Word Summary: Revolutionary sociology research

I heard Adam Grant speak at a work conference in California in 2015. Although I’d never heard of him before, he gave one of the best presentations of the conference.

Fast forward to three months later to another conference in Atlanta. As part of that conference’s incentives, participants were allowed to take home swag, including shirts, cups and books. Naturally, I grabbed a few books based on how cool the covers looked.

It wasn’t until I was leaving the conference that I actually read the cover and realized that the author was the same guy I heard speak only months prior. I prefer to think of it as kismet rather than coincidence.

Grant’s original presentation in California was essentially an overview of Give and Take, with a synopsis on his ideas surrounding givers, takers and matchers. Reading the book allowed for a more robust study of these concepts.

Essentially, Grant shows through numerous examples how givers can reside at both the bottom and the top of the productivity food chain, which those who naturally take or match falling somewhere in the middle.

In other words, it’s good to be a giver. By being otherish (rather than selfish or selfless), we can reap the benefits of philanthropy without losing your own best interests.

While it’s impossible to fully unpack the complexity of these ideas in a brief review, I can truly say that they were remarkable to discover. These are characteristics that are universal to humanity. And by better understanding them, we better understand ourselves.

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