Adam Grant

Happiness was linked to being a taker rather than a giver, whereas meaningfulness went with being a giver rather than a taker.

Success involves more than just capitalizing on the strengths of giving; it also requires avoiding the pitfalls.

It’s easier to win if everybody wants you to win. If you don’t make enemies out there, it’s easier to succeed.

If many people personally believe in giving, but assume that others don’t, the whole norm in a group or a company can shift away from giving.

How givers collaborate: they take on tasks that are in the group’s best interest, not necessarily their own personal interests. This makes their groups better off: studies show that on average the more giving group members do, the higher the quantity and quality of their groups’ products and services.

When the groups included one consistent giver, the other members contributed more. The presence of a single giver was enough to establish a norm of giving.

Matchers tend to build smaller networks than either givers, who seek actively to help a wider range of people, or takers, who often find themselves expanding their networks to compensate for bridges burned in previous transactions.

The best networks have strong ties, weak ties, and dormant ties

Successful givers need to know who’s likely to manipulate them so that they can protect themselves

Givers without self-care and self-interest do NOT succeed: succeessful giving must be accompanied by self-interest as well

To avoid getting shut out, many takers become good fakers, acting generously so that they can waltz into our networks disguised as givers or matchers.

Givers have an easier time developing great networksGivers perform better in complex negotiation

In fact, you’ll see that in sales and medical school, the giver advantage grows over time

One study found that highly talented people tend to make others jealous.But if talented people are givers, they no longer have a target on their backs. Instead, givers are appreciated for their contributions.

Research demonstrates that givers sink to the bottom of the success ladder

Meyer summarizes his code of honor as “(1) Show up. (2) Work hard. (3) Be kind. (4) Take the high road.”

Research demonstrates that givers sink to the bottom of the success ladder. Across a wide range of important occupations, givers are at a disadvantage: they make others better off but sacrifice their own success in the process.

The worst performers and the best performers are givers; takers and matchers are more likely to land in the middle.

There are two great forces of human nature: self-interest, and caring for others,” and people are most successful when they are driven by a “hybrid engine” of the two.

Entrepreneurs who kept their day jobs had 33 percent lower odds of failure than those who quit.

As we gain knowledge about a domain, we become prisoners of our prototypes.

Having a sense of security in one realm gives us the freedom to be original in another.

The hallmark of originality is rejecting the default and exploring whether a better option exists.