[Advanced] A Path to Success (1) 2014-01-03

Are you a giver, a taker or a matcher?

The world, according to Wharton professor Adam Grant, is filled with givers, takers and matchers. Takers are those who like to get more than they give. They tilt reciprocity — the mix of give and take — in their favor. Unlike takers, givers reflect a reciprocity style that is "other-focused": they focus more on what others need than what they need. The final category of Grant’s three reciprocity styles is the matcher, who strives to achieve a balance between giving and taking. In the workplace, matchers are common; they are willing to help somebody, but they want something in return.

On one hand, in a number of studies cited by Grant in his fascinating book Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, those who are defined as givers appear to be the least successful in their fields. As Grant writes, "Across occupations, it appears that givers are just too caring, too trusting and too willing to sacrifice their own interests for the benefit of others." Studies of engineers in California, medical students in Belgium and salespeople in North Carolina all revealed the same pattern. The ranks of the least successful — the least effective engineers, the medical students with the poorest grades — were filled with people who, according to the study criteria, were defined as givers.

However, it’s also givers that are consistently ranked highest in their fields. It seems, as Grant puts it, that givers are both the "champs" and the "chumps" of the world. In Give and Take, Grant rehabilitates the givers, proving to his readers why giving is the best strategy to succeed. He also addresses the failures of some givers, revealing the flaws that caused their downfall.

Why Givers Succeed

Givers can have greater success than takers and matchers, according to Grant, because they approach interactions with others differently, especially relating to four domains: networking, collaborating, evaluating and influencing.


Language Lab
reciprocity n.
behavior in which two people or groups of people give each other help and advantages

rehabilitate v.
to return someone to a healthy or usual condition or way of living, or to return something to good condition

collaborate v.
to work together or with someone else for a special purpose

chump n.
a foolish person

domain n.
an area of interest or an area over which a person has control