Mark Kukushkin read for us a book by Adam Grant “Take or Give?”
“Our time, society, business laws require us to confident, and sometimes tough behavior. They aim to receive more than they give. They suggest using relationships with people for their own benefit. Put your interests above the needs of others. However, Adam Grant proves the success of a different approach. He explains that of the three life strategies of interaction (take, exchange or give), it is the “giver” strategy that is the most effective – not only in private life, but also in solving business problems (including sales and negotiations, which at first glance seems like heresy). ). He acknowledges that givers tend to round out various success ratings. They are constantly helping colleagues, and therefore they often do not have enough time to do their own work. This type of behavior Adam Grant calls “sacrificial givers.”
But they also lead the ratings – givers! Those who know how to think about the needs and benefits of the client, know how to build networks of contacts and donate their time. But at the same time, they take care of their own interests. Grant singles them out as intelligent altruists. Unlike “sacrificial givers”, reasonable ones are able to recognize the tricks of inveterate consumers in time and prevent them from using them. And in his book, he gives many examples of such successful givers: The Simpsons creator George Meyer, film director and actor Adam Rifkin, businessman Richard Branson …
The work of a young researcher (Adam Grant is only 32 years old) will give you not only fascinating, but also joyful reading. Fascinating, because almost 300 pages of text are stories from life and business stories (each section of the book begins with them), data on psychological experiments, discussion of philosophical issues (for example, about the relationship between altruistic and selfish motives in our behavior) and concluding – specific advice on how to practice selflessness and help others more without sacrificing your time and energy.
And joyful reading because it is pleasant to discover new possibilities of altruistic behavior in oneself and in the world, allowing oneself to be a giver. As a business coach and manager, I was pleased to note the coincidence of Adam Grant’s ideas with my life philosophy and business practice. And one more thing – it’s nice to see how a person fulfills his own mission, and in the case of the author of the book this is exactly the case: he is constantly looking for new facets of altruism both in research and in experiments. In particular, the opportunity, giving, to take care of their own deep interests. This, it seems to me, is true wisdom.
About the author of the book
Adam Grant – American researcher, specialist in organizational psychology, lecturer at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania (USA). Book “Take or give?” (2013) is his big genre debut. Translation from English by Alexander Anvaer. Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 320 p.