Give and Take - Adam Grant

Great read for social design and community building.

Give and Take by Adam Grant explores how reciprocity styles (giving, taking, and matching) influence success in life and work. This book helps me to reflect many aspects of my work and life, while I will focus on explaining what I learned from this book could support social design and community building.

First, the central thesis of Give and Take is that success depends less on competition and more on how we interact with others. Givers, who contribute without expecting immediate returns, often achieve greater long-term success.

The book blends research findings and real-life stories in different fields to illustrate the power of giving, which convince me at the cognitive and emotional levels. Adam also stressed that the risks of giving too much (selfless giving) and how "smart giving" can mitigate burnout (otherish giving).

One practical strategy offered in this book for promoting giving culture at the group level is called reciprocity ring. A reciprocity ring is a structured group activity where participants take turns sharing a request for help, and others in the group offer their resources, knowledge, or connections to fulfill it. The goal is to foster collaboration, generosity, and mutual support by tapping into the collective power of the group.

Social design projects sometimes do not last because no one wants to take more responsibility than others. Even when members share a common goal, they may calculate their contributions relative to others and expect equivalent rewards in return. The reciprocity ring activity helps foster a culture of sharing within a community. Remarkably, it also works among strangers. For example, in his book, Adam describes running this exercise with his MBA students—some of whom were market competitors. Initially skeptical about others' willingness to help, the students were surprised by the extent of support they received from their peers.

This simple yet powerful activity not only helps strangers establish connections but also cultivates a culture of generosity. I’ve used it with my Bachelor students during their individual graduation thesis supervision. After gathering them together for just one round of the reciprocity ring, I noticed they became more cohesive and eager to support one another compared to previous cohorts.

There are also valuable tips on practicing giving at an individual level, but I won’t delve into those here.

That being said, this book has limited discussion on cross-cultural differences in reciprocity styles and occasionally oversimplifies complex interactions to fit the giver-taker-matcher framework. 

All in all, Give and Take is a compelling, research-backed book that redefines success and highlights the power of generosity. While it has minor gaps, its strengths make it a valuable resource for professionals and general readers alike.