Reviews

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam M. Grant

danihayesrn's review against another edition

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I think I need an Adam Grant break. I just wasn’t able to get into this book. The stories felt really long and less directional than other books. 

deschatjes's review against another edition

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4.0

Sometimes I think one doesn't find books, but they find you. This is one such book. I've been doing a lot of giving recently and have noticed that the takers are out in full force...
This book explains how to try and put some balance and how sometimes chronic giving can be helped ironically by increasing giving but in the right areas where your giving has real benefits.
Worth a read.

merrittarment's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.0

evaward's review against another edition

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5.0

Excellent--a book that truly resonates and one I know I will read and reference over and over again. If you're a person who works with other people (...), do yourself a favor and just read this masterpiece.

invisible_universes's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

1.0

This book is ideological nonsense that self-contradicts and struggles to justify its own forced dichotomies. If you've ever seen one of those internet posts about 'there are two types of people...' and wished someone overthought that to the point that it became an entire book, this is the book for you. 

In all fairness, the author clearly believes in his own premise, and it's not a horribly written book. It's not much worse than your average self-help book, and there are people who may be reassured or inspired by some of the content. But there is one and only one idea at play in this book -- it could be a brief essay and still get most of the same points across. It reads a bit like an overexcited child grabbed every possible example of his claim to add to the pot, then took every counterexample and squeezed and justified until it fit. It's an exhausting, tiresome sort of read, and I think the few benefits I took away will be more than counterbalanced by the time I exhausted reading it.

(In all fairness, I hate all books like this, who claim to have cracked the code of success. I don't believe this is uniquely bad in any regard, and if you like this sort of thing it might even be good. For me, though, it was nothing short of painful.)

zwong's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

5.0

We spend the majority of our waking hours at work. This means that what we do at work becomes a fundamental part of b who we  are. Of we reserve fiber values for our personal lives,  what will be missing in our professional live? By shifting weber so slightly in the giver  direction,  we might find our waking hours marked by greater success,  richer meaning,  and more lasting impact. 

graciee_rote's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.25

alesforz's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.0

xtiani's review against another edition

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3.75

Nice to see good people win

nopenotmelissa's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.5