This is going to appear as advertising and in a sense it is. Give and Take has been written by one of my professors at Wharton, Adam Grant. It one of the Top20 business bestseller books on Amazon and has been featured in the New York Times, in Oprah's best books list and in the Forbes Top 5 business books among others.
Let me be clear: before Wharton I kind of never read a business related book. No interest whatsoever. Professors like Adam changed my opinion. They are thinkers, but they are also practitioners. Contrary to France where professors tend to be stuck in the academic world, US professors (at least the ones in the top universities) alternate a lot teaching students and coaching/training with companies.
Adam is a little bit a rock star at Wharton as he is very young, but has already a tenure. He is also very approachable and always happy to help students, hence the big queue outside his office. The New York Times did a good portrait of him: Is Giving the secret to getting ahead.
In Give and Take, Adam Grant identifies three styles of workers: the giver, always happy to help others even if it impacts its own workload; the taker, who requests a lot, but never gives something back; and the matcher, who is giving in exchange of a future taking. The best summary of the book is given by Adam himself in this speech he gave at the Google Zeitgeistminds event.
Give and Take is an interesting read, well worth a read as it succeeds to combine facts and fun on psychology in the workplace.
Author: Adam Grant
Publisher: Penguin
Let me be clear: before Wharton I kind of never read a business related book. No interest whatsoever. Professors like Adam changed my opinion. They are thinkers, but they are also practitioners. Contrary to France where professors tend to be stuck in the academic world, US professors (at least the ones in the top universities) alternate a lot teaching students and coaching/training with companies.
Adam is a little bit a rock star at Wharton as he is very young, but has already a tenure. He is also very approachable and always happy to help students, hence the big queue outside his office. The New York Times did a good portrait of him: Is Giving the secret to getting ahead.
In Give and Take, Adam Grant identifies three styles of workers: the giver, always happy to help others even if it impacts its own workload; the taker, who requests a lot, but never gives something back; and the matcher, who is giving in exchange of a future taking. The best summary of the book is given by Adam himself in this speech he gave at the Google Zeitgeistminds event.
Give and Take is an interesting read, well worth a read as it succeeds to combine facts and fun on psychology in the workplace.
Author: Adam Grant
Publisher: Penguin