Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success
Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at Wharton, builds Give and Take around a simple observation from his research. In every workplace, some people give more than they take, some take more than they give, and most try to keep an even balance. Conventional wisdom expects takers to win, but Grant's data show that givers cluster at both the top and the bottom of performance. The book explains how the most successful givers protect themselves from being exploited while still creating outsized value for their teams. Grant draws on studies of engineers, salespeople, medical students, and venture capitalists to show that generosity, done well, is a career advantage rather than a handicap. The book helped define a generation of thinking about work, culture, and long term reputation.
Also by Adam Grant
What you might want to know about Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Adam Grant sorts people into givers, takers, and matchers, then shows why the most generous often end up on top rather than at the bottom.
Sinek and Grant are close friends and often appear on each other's podcasts, and Sinek has repeatedly cited Give and Take as one of the clearest research based arguments for the human first leadership he advocates. It reinforces his message that trust and generosity outperform pure self interest over time.
No. Grant finds givers at both the top and bottom of workplaces. The book focuses on what separates successful givers, who set limits and are strategic about their help, from doormats who burn out.
Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success was written by Adam Grant, published in 2013 by Penguin Books.
Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success is 320 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
