Givers vs Takers

We have been discussing a lot about personality and identity. When deciding what to discuss for my second post which involved more thought than the first, I turned to one of my favorite resources, TEDTalks. I was first exposed to these early in high school during my two year Biotechnology I & II course. They quickly have become something I have often watched when needing inspiration for papers, presentations, and interview preparation. But they are also what I would consider a "nerdy guilty pleasure" as I have watched many of them just for the fun of it. I think there is a wealth of knowledge to be found in each of these talks and one day I hope to attend a conference.
First, I searched organizational behavior and found links to a few people, but no videos. Next, I went under the topics tab to the business section. I quickly found Adam Grant's talk titled "Are you a giver or a taker?". Before even listening to the talk I considered this question and found it hard to come up with an answer. Many of my interactions I would consider to be a balance of both giving and taking, however I find myself giving more often. Right off the bat he explained he was an organizational psychologist so I knew I was in the right place. He then displayed an image on the screen:

I read this and laughed within a few seconds. While there is no data to support this and very little content, I found it to be funny and also accurate enough for what it is. Grant then went on to discuss a third category, matchers. He states, "If you're a matcher, you try to keep an even balance of give and take: quid pro quo — I'll do something for you if you do something for me." This was likely the category I was searching for, however I feel depending on the situation I can either take the role of a matcher or a giver.
Through his data, he shows that givers can be found to produce the most and least productivity at many organizations. However they do offer the most improvement to organizations of the three. So why are they found at the bottom and the top of productivity? Grant along with other colleagues conducted research specifically inside of hospitals. They observed the likeliness of nurses to ask for help among different floors of the hospital. They found where there was a nurse positioned solely as a resource to aid the other nurses, they were more likely to seek out help as opposed to the other floors. This result is very important for managers to understand. Although a floor may not need a nurse in that position to produce the same result, the basis of that result more likely comes from an environment where asking for help is encouraged and not seen as a sign of incompetence or weakness. Creating an environment of open communication allows for those who are in a situation where they need assistance to feel they are supported. Finally, he discusses the importance of creating the right group of people in a team or organization. This can easily be applied to any team especially a hospital board or senior management team. Teams need a healthy mixture of both matchers and givers to be successful.
Overall, I thought this video touched on all the parts of organizational behavior which we will be focusing on: One, Two, and Many. At the One level, it is important to understand where you fall in the giver/taker/matcher system. Although people may adapt to different roles under different circumstances, it is important to understand one's tendencies and how you will likely react in a situation. Your interactions would fall under the Two category. Grant explains that givers do not work well with takers because they feel they are taken advantage of and will likely shut down. At the Many level, it is important for management to be able to spot takers who may negatively impact productivity among the organization. Grant's point about making sure you have the right team members in an organization is spot on in the healthcare field. Surrounding yourself and your team with the right people is what sets you up for success.