Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success

by Adam M. Grant

As a structured form of giving, the Reciprocity Ring is designed to disrupt this self-fulfilling prophecy. The first step is to make sure that people ask for help.

Part of the wisdom behind Freecycle and the Reciprocity Ring is that both of these generalized giving systems encourage giving while maintaining a sense of free choice.

how to start a Reciprocity Ring in your organization, visit Cheryl and Wayne Baker’s company, Humax (www.humaxnetworks.com), which offers a suite of social networking tools for individuals and organizations.

job crafting, a concept introduced by Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton, management professors at Yale and the University of Michigan, respectively. Job crafting involves innovating around a job description, creatively adding and customizing tasks and responsibilities to match personal interests and values.

For more on the power of powerless communication, visit the blogs by Susan Cain (www.thepowerofintroverts.com)

On Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com), known as the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects, you can find people looking for help in designing and launching movies, books, video games, music, plays, paintings,

On Kiva (www.kiva.org), you can identify opportunities to make microloans of $25 or more to entrepreneurs in the developing world. Both sites give you the chance to see and follow the progress of the people you help.