BOOK
SUMMARY (14)
Give
and Take
·
Summary written by: Jill Donahue
“Focus attention
and energy on making a difference in the lives of others, and success might
follow as a by-product.”1 Give
and Take, page 256
At 31, Adam Grant is the youngest-tenured and
highest-rated professor at Wharton.Within seven
years of achieving his Ph.D., he published more papers in organizational
psychology (the study of workplace dynamics) than colleagues who won
lifetime-achievement awards!
When organizations like Google, NFL, the US
Army and Navy and the United Nations want to figure out how to get the most out
of their employees and when people want to figure out how to get the most out
of their jobs, it is Grant who has the answers. His 2013 book Give and
Take compiles his research
and stories into applicable ideas that we can use to make dramatic
change. Below are just three of the top ideas I garnered from his book
which is chock full of great ideas.
Golden Egg
Which
one are you?
“In fact, the patterns of success based on reciprocity
styles are remarkably clear.” Give
and Take, page 6
Adam Grant divides people into three
reciprocity styles. He discovered that patterns of success based on these
reciprocity styles are remarkably clear. Here’s how he categorizes them.
1) Givers –
“I’m happy to share my time and energy with those who can benefit.”
·
Prefer to give more than they get
·
Focus and act on the interest of others
·
Help others without expecting anything in
return
2) Takers – “If I don’t look out for myself, no one else will.”
·
Put their own interests ahead of others
·
Help others strategically when the benefits
to themselves outweigh the costs
·
Believe the world is competitive, dog-eat-dog
place
3) Matchers – “I’ll
do it if I’m pretty sure I will get something in return.”
·
Strive to preserve an equal balance of giving
and getting
·
Operate on principle of fairness
·
Have relationships governed by even exchange
of favours
You don’t fit into just one category? That’s
normal. The lines between these styles aren’t hard and fast.
Which category do you think ends up at the
bottom of the success ladder? The verdict in his classes was nearly unanimous.
Givers. When he asked them who rises to the top, the students would equally
choose Matchers and Takers. But
Grant’s research proves otherwise.
His intention was to teach his students to
become better leaders, managers and negotiators. He believed that the way to do
that was to adopt a ‘giver’ style. But they simply didn’t believe him. So he
decided to prove them wrong. This book is that proof.
GEM #1
In
everything we do, serve
“The
defining quality of a top pharmaceutical salesperson was being a giver.” Give
and Take, page 141
Adam Grant did an experiment with call centre
employees. He randomized them into three groups with the exact same conditions
except for what happened five minutes before their shift. Each group read a
different story.
Group 1 read
stories from previous call centre employees explaining how the job had helped
them by teaching them transferable sales skills (the personal benefit group)
Group 2 read
stories from university alumni who had benefitted from the donations raised by
the call centre group. They talked about how the scholarships had helped them
(the purpose group)
Group 3 read
stories that had nothing to do with either personal benefit or purpose
The results? The personal benefit group had
no change in dollars raised while the people
in the purpose group more than doubled their dollars raised! After
seeing the same results after five replications of the study, Grant concluded
that the testimonial from the scholarship recipient bypassed the subjects’
conscious thoughts and went straight to the subconscious source of motivation.
While they could not pinpoint the source of their motivation, it was driving
their behavior.
A five minute exercise that doubles
productivity!? Why
don’t we do this?
Everything I do is focused on helping
pharmaceutical people improve patient outcomes so I was especially intrigued to
read Grant’s reference to a study by Jaramillo and Grisaffe. They studied 600
pharmaceutical sales people. The reps completed surveys to identify if they
were givers, takers or matchers. They were assigned to a new product with no
existing client base.
While initially there was no difference, each
quarter the givers pulled ahead of the others. By the third and fourth
quarters, the givers were bringing in significantly more revenue than the
others. It didn’t matter whether the sales people were conscientious or
carefree, extroverted or introverted, emotionally stable or anxious,
open-minded or traditional. The ones who focused on helping the physician to
help the patient succeeded. Yay! Being
‘patient focused’ isn’t just morally imperative, it contributes to increased
sales!
Adam Grant, through his research and writing,
is saying that people work better if they feel like they are helping others and
making a difference. This might be the number one secret to moving others.
GEM #2
Why
some givers burn out while others are on fire
“Success involves more than just capitalizing on the
strengths of giving: it also requires avoiding the pitfalls.” Give
and Take, page 155
Some givers end up exhausted and unproductive
while others end up passionate and successful. Grant calls them successful
givers and failed givers. You can likely picture a few of these dramatically
different givers in your network. What do you think causes the difference?
Grant found that the successful givers aren’t
just more other-oriented than their peers, they are also more self-interested. Successful givers are just as
ambitious as the takers and matchers.
The failed givers are completely selfless –
to a fault. They have high other-interest and low self-interest. And this ends
up hurting them. It reminds me of the instructions on the plane to put on your own oxygen mask first
so you are able to help those around you.
If takers are selfish and failed givers are
selfless, successful givers are ‘otherish’, Grant says.They care about
benefitting others and they match that focus with ambitious goals to advance
their own interests. In other
words, they are still willing to give more than they receive but they are aware
of their own interests which become their guide for choosing when, where, how
and to whom they give. They do well by doing good!
When your focus on others is coupled with a
healthy dose of concern for the self, givers are less likely to burn out and
get burned. They are positioned to excel, help others and help themselves.
If you had giver tendencies before you read
this, you will be encouraged to continue and perhaps slightly adjust your
approach to ensure you become a successful ‘otherish’ giver. If you didn’t have
giver tendencies, you likely didn’t choose to read this summary anyway! I
encourage you, wherever you sit, to grab Grant’s book and sit down with it. My
copy is marked by dozens of dog-eared pages – evidence of its tremendous value
for me.
Many people reserve their giver tendencies
for their personal rather than their professional lives. By shifting even
slightly in the giver direction, you just might enjoy work more, find greater
meaning and create longer lasting impact!
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