Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist, who has researched the different personalities of employees and determined that in the office environment, there are three basic kinds of people:
- Givers,
- Takers &
- Matchers
According to the research, the majority of people are Matchers and we all have our moments of giving and taking, but we most probably are inclined to be either a Giver or a Taker.
You can figure out for yourself by acknowledging which of the following two questions you will most often ask yourself when you interact with your colleagues: What can you do for me? or What can I do for you?
Many studies have proven that in order for a company or an organization to prosper, there is a need to have a culture of generosity, where people, willing to teach others are encouraged and the knowledge and skills are safely carried over from person to person, without fear of being judged or laughed at.
In my experience with a company for more than 3-4 years, I have seen a high percentage of turnover of staff, and in many of these cases, the knowledge and wisdom these people possessed were lost for the organization once they left. This lack of learning is not always acknowledged by the company but has a significant impact on the new employees. The newly hired employees inevitably start from scratch and build proficiency, mostly based on own practice and errors, and lack the wisdom of mentors or senior associates.
For making any organization successful, Adam Grant offers simple strategies to promote a culture of generosity and keep self-serving employees from taking more than their share. The three simple steps are:
- Protect Givers from burnout – Make sure Givers provide quick tips and don’t just do most of the work themselves.
- Encourage help-seeking – Make it easy and safe to ask for help.
- Get the right people on the bus. Keep the wrong people off the bus – having Takers in the team, poisons the atmosphere, where any and all collaboration is difficult. In such an atmosphere, even the Givers are discouraged to help.
Read the Entire Book
If you haven’t read it yet and you are interested to hear all about Adam Grant’s research on the matter, please read the book. The full title is Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success and you can order it from your favorite online book store or get it from your neighborhood library, where it is available in multiple formats: printed version, e-book or audiobook.
The book has been translated into 30 languages and named one of the best books of 2013 by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal—as well as one of Oprah’s riveting reads, Fortune’s must-read business books, Harvard Business Review’s ideas that shaped management, and the Washington Post’s books every leader should read.
Are you wondering if you are a Giver or a Taker?
Assess yourself. As Adam Grant explains, the assessment is using state-of-the-art methods in organizational psychology. For each question, give the answer that comes naturally to you. Your results will only be as accurate as you are honest—and self-aware.
Nadia Karaboycheva 