Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success

by Adam M. Grant

This is a defining feature of how givers collaborate: they take on the 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, from sales teams to paper mill crews to restaurants, the more giving group members do, the higher the quantity and quality of their groups’ products and services. But it’s not just their groups that get rewarded: like Adam Rifkin, successful givers expand the pie in ways that benefit themselves as well as their groups. Extensive research reveals that people who give their time and knowledge regularly to help their colleagues end up earning more raises and promotions in a wide range of settings, from banks to manufacturing companies. “On The Simpsons, I think George surrendered himself to the show,” Tim Long says. “Intuitively, he understood that the best thing for him was for the show to be as good as possible.”