Give and Take Book Summary

Give and Take Book Summary Preview

Key Insights

In Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, Adam Grant invites readers to explore what it really means to give and take. While traditional teaching tells us we must take what it is we need, Grant uncovers the many reasons why it is actually the givers who win in the end. 

And oftentimes, the givers carry others with them on the road to success.

Givers and Takers

Givers--they give far more than they get

Takers--they take far more than they give

To takers, the world is a battleground. Life is an unforgiving game and you need to take as much as you can. You only help others if the benefit is far greater than the cost. For example, Michael Jordan’s personal philosophy is “To be successful, you have to be selfish.” He is known for speaking out against increasing team revenue shares when he was a team owner, the converse of his opinion as a player.

To givers, on the other hand, helping others is a reward in and of itself. For example, George Meyer, writer for The Simpsons, encouraged other writers to use his ideas for the show. As a result, he is only credited with writing 12 episodes when he actually penned more than 300. For George Meyer, helping his colleagues was more important than receiving recognition.

The Importance of the Social Circle

When we need to ask for a favor, we are most likely to turn to our closest friends and family members first. The alternative feels awkward: we wonder what right we have to ask for something from an individual we have not been in contact with recently.

However, research shows that most givers are actually not phased by not knowing a recipient of their generosity very well--or by not having been in communication with them lately.

Quite the contrary.

For instance, let’s look at Adam Rifkin, cofounder of the company 106 Miles. Twice each month, Rifkin holds events where entrepreneurs come together as a group and he then provides feedback on their ideas, assists them in getting jobs, and helps connect them to his extensive network.

While it is likely that Adam Rifkin started holding these gatherings based on a sense of altruism, the successful entrepreneur has benefitted from his own generosity as well.

He was able to use the ‘social capital’ he received from his networking events to ask for a favor of his own. When starting a company called Excite, he received advice from Graham Spencer--a person he had not seen in five years. Even so, Spencer remembered Rifkin for his assistance from years ago and was compelled to help him out with this new endeavor.

Givers commonly believe that pool knowledge benefits everyone.

Excessive Taking

For those who take and take, a price is often paid in the form of a damaged reputation and lost respect. This is referred to as a taker tax. According to this phenomenon, the more an individual takes, the more likely he or she is to experience negative repercussions as a result of word of mouth.

For instance, Frank Lloyd Wright...

Please login to access the full text and audio summary for FREE

Users get access to two FREE summaries. Become a pro user for unlimited access.

Login

Congrats! You've unlocked a 50% discount. Use coupon code WELCOME for 50% off Sumizeit Premium.

Save time with unlimited access to text, audio, and video summaries of the world's best-selling books.
Become a pro user