Lecture Notes: Give and Take by Adam Grant

Key Concepts

Takers

• Characteristics:
  • Always seek to get more than they give.
  • Often take credit for collective achievements without contributing fairly.
  • Engage in 'kissing up and kicking down' - pretend to care about powerful people while revealing true colors to peers.
  • Narcissistic, often have inflated egos.

Givers

• Characteristics:
  • Enjoy helping others with no strings attached.
  • Examples include sharing knowledge, mentoring, and supporting colleagues.
  • Take personal responsibility for failures, unlike takers.

Matchers

• Characteristics:
  • Maintain a balance of give and take (quid pro quo).
  • Feel a sense of debt if they owe a favor or vice versa.

Identifying Takers

• Challenges:
  • Takers can be charming and friendly at first.
  • Easier to detect through social media by analyzing connections and getting references.

Behavior on Social Media

• Takers often present themselves with attractive profile photos to boost their image.

Can Takers Become Givers?

• Possibility:
  • People may shift from taking to giving as they age and gain responsibility.
  • Legacy building can motivate a giving attitude.

Hiring and Partnerships

• Assessment:
  • Ask candidates to discuss work history focusing on how they describe achievements (use of "I" for takers).
  • Givers share credit and acknowledge others.

Leadership and Curiosity

• Effective Leaders:
  • Ask questions and are open to learning from others.
  • Takers avoid asking questions to appear knowledgeable.

Learning from Loss

• Givers vs. Takers:
  • Givers learn from mistakes, use losses for team improvement.
  • Takers protect egos, blame others, and miss learning opportunities.

Generational Differences

• Research Findings:
  • Millennials perceived as more narcissistic than previous generations.
  • Age, more than generation, influences generosity; people tend to become more generous as they age.