Give and Take: Post #1--Overview

Overview  There are three styles of social interaction concerning reciprocity:  Takers, who take more than they give in life; matchers who give tit for tat; and givers, who give to help others. When it comes to who wins and who loses in life, researcher and author Adam Grant concludes that givers do both—win and lose. A Wharton professor, Grant makes some powerful observations to support his descriptions and analysis of all three types; ultimately, he concludes that “otherish” givers (generous but sensible) come out on top every time. Losing givers (overly selfless givers) were those who gave too much to others at their own expense,  earned 14% less, were twice as likely to be victims, and were 22 percent less powerful than either matchers or takers. In the book, Grant describes the difference between these two types of givers: The champs and the chumps!

Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success (Viking/Penguin Group, 2013) by Adam Grant, reviewed by Steve Gladis, PhD, August 2013.

Innovation Myths--Post #10--Simple Plan

Simple Innovation Plan: Here’s the author’s solution for getting innovative: 1) Pick a project and start doing something (pick a small one at first); 2) Forget innovation and focus on being good (great innovators start trying to get better at solving a problem); 3) If you work with others, you need leadership and trust (keep out people you can’t trust); 4) Make the team smaller if it’s not working; 5) Be happy about interesting mistakes (they often create a path toward solution).

Innovation Myths: Post #9--Problem Finding vs Problem Sovling

Problem Solving vs. Problem Finding: People try to solve problems too quickly before deciding if they’re the right ones to solve. Great inventors discover unidentified problems (by asking questions), then answer them. Framing problems helps find them and solve them, like Edison: How do you get power into homes to charge a light bulb?