Are you a giver or a taker?

In his 2016 talk, watched by almost 8 million people worldwide, Adam Grant talks about the differences between givers, takers and matchers. In his research, Mr. Grant sought to figure out which types of people were most effective at work. Without reading any further, which would you guess would be the least effective at work and which would you guess be the most effective.

I think the answer will surprise you.

When looking at medical professionals, the majority of the lowest scores were from people who could be defined as givers. When looking at sales professionals, the majority of the lowest sales figures were reported by people who could be defined as givers.

But here’s the twist…it was also the givers who scored the highest scores in just about every metric of success across industries. Which raises the question, how do we create a world where givers can excel? After watching the video, see if you agree with Adam Grant’s three ideas for how to do this; what additional strategies do you deploy at your organisation?

In every workplace, there are three basic kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant breaks down these personalities and offers simple strategies to promote a culture of generosity and keep self-serving employees from taking more than their share.