Power Moves

Lessons from Davos

By: Adam Grant

Narrated by: Adam Grant

Adam Grant, the New York Times best-selling author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B, went to the World Economic Forum in Davos to find out what the world’s most visionary and influential leaders had to say about power—and its transformative role in our society.

What he learned there may surprise you.

Grant delivers a heady mix of captivating interviews, compelling data, and his unmistakably incisive and actionable analysis, to give us a crash course in power that both inspires and instructs from the front lines. In interviews with two dozen CEOs, start-up founders, top scientists, and thought leaders—including top executives at Google, GM, Slack, and Goldman Sachs, the CEO of the Gates Foundation, and NASA’s former chief scientist—he shares hard-earned insights on how to succeed in this new era of hyper-linked power. He also explores how power is reshaping everything from the workforce, to the rise of women in the office, to the influence of scientists on policy.

As pillars of traditional power are transformed by networks of informed citizens, the use of power is increasingly seen as a force for good in the world, from one that was once coveted to one that demands to be shared.

©2018 Adam Grant (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

Power doesn’t corrupt it reveals

'Power moves' is split into six chapters (plus an intro) looking at various aspects of the the use, transfer and management of power.

The chapters cover the following things
- Power reveals (what does power reveal about a person, and how does a type of person use power)
- Women in Power (how are women different, how does that help or hinder)
- team power (how to empower teams)
- Culture change (how to empower a culture change, and why)
- robot power (how technology can change things)
- Power to truth (cultural and institutional - how we protect those who can't protect themselves)

Each chapter ends with some "power tips" related to the chapter, giving the listener tools on how to make the most of the power they have, or to influence their work. There are tips for better interviews, getting promotions or pay rises, getting your team to work better, empowering others, changing culture etc. All fairly easy to implement, with hopefully significant ramifications.

Below are my big takeaways form each chapter.

There is the old saying "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely", but here Adam Grant suggests that it doesn't corrupt, but it reveals what was there all along, hidden.

The section on 'power reveals' does look at politics a lot. it looks at many Presidents, analyzing their speeches against what sort of President they were. It looks at both Obama and Trump and how they use power. There is political discussion but it is mostly bipartisan, and there is no 'bashing' of one side or the other. There is analysis of inaugural speeches and of senatorial speeches and comparisons to the actions, to see how they words chosen correlate to the types of actions taken later, and about how effective they were at getting others on board with them.

It discussed how are women treated differently, due to gender. How opportunities may not come to them due to some unrealized biases. there is discussions on quotas too. One interesting point was about a study where people reviewed the actions of a person. When the study changed the females name to male name, and in a blind test, the reviewers responded better to the 'male' better.

Empowerment of teams is discussed as important - team will do something more than asked if empowered to do so. The tips included simple things like having inclusive conversations with those being affected, apologizing if you do make mistakes, and being approachable and human. Get feedback from the team and discuss why changes are made.

Culture change has to be forced. People like the status quo, even when the status quo actually sucks. It takes time of people being made uncomfortable for changes to take effect and take hold

Changes in productivity is needed, especially with an aging workforce and supporting more and more retirees.. Artificial intelligence will change things, but right now it's a black box that few understand. If we want to get the best out of technology and make people more productive, it needs to be more transparent. Emotional intelligence is also discussed in this section, as simple, technical tasks are replaced, but the creative, emotional jobs won't be (yet).

This comes back to politics again. while earlier it was a discussion of politicians, this is more about politics itself. How to get people to do something about climate change, or get vaccines out to everyone. How do we get people to trust the science. Are facts enough? Sadly, no. We need to look at how we deliver the message as well.

The audio is generally good. It is Adam Grant facilitating a series of interviews around each topic. He leads the section, explains who the experts are, and walks the listener through the topics and ideas.

Music and sound effects are used, but generally fairly minimally. Interview quality is good. There is one in the 'robot power' section that is mixed rather quiet, but otherwise it is good.

And most importantly, Grant does remind us that 'with great power comes great responsibility'. What more could you ask for?

Exceptional content in an innovative format

In this audiobook, Adam Grant orchestrates interviews with the world's top CEOs and academics at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The content is priceless, like having the top leaders in the world share with you their insights about how power works and personal experiences of how they achieved power and what they chose to do with it. In between interviews, Grant synthesizes the content to make is more than a collection of interviews, weaving a narrative that is compelling and personally useful. The "Power Tips" at the end of each chapter provide the listener with takeaways -- but honestly I thought the main content itself was enough. The Power Tips are just icing on the cake.

This is a must-listen for every person who aspires to power, or just those who want to understand how power works in our society.

will be listening to this again.

this was an enjoyable listen...this will be a repeat listen. this is not my normal listening preference but still I enjoyed #thinkingoutsidethebox

Very happy I listened to this. Excellent.

For me, this was a very powerful listen. Adam is touching on leadership, empowerment, trust, growth, learning about our emotional responsibility in a smartly edited and performed journey.

It hit hard on many points related to how we perceive power, manage ourselves around old power Dynamics and move into the future.

This is something I am living as a leader today. Facinating to listen to incredibly insightful leaders that are also working through major change around this subject.

great job!

An energy boost

In terms of positive mental energy; it feels like I’ve been going to the gym regularly for 6 months.. Thank you.. I really needed that, although I didn’t know till I listened to it.

Great listen!

Well done. Inspiring and motivating for those interested in changes in the workplace. Power is merely perceived.

a little surprised

I was expecting these anecdotes on how to be a powerful business man. I was wrong, the wad a lot of interesting stories the last interview rad definitely my favorite. I would recommend this to anyone.

A New Understanding of Power from the Top Down

When I first started listening to this book, I was skeptical because as someone who is anti-capitalist and truly dislikes the wealthy elites of our world, I had very little hope for anything meaningful. This book completely changed the way I view businesses and corporations in not only the U.S., but the whole world. After listening to this I feel inspired and empowered knowing that within this capitalistic world there are CEOs and leaders that do have hearts and are not just mean, greedy, robotic business people. I now know that at least some people in high positions with a lot of power do think and want to make sure their employees are doing well in their jobs and if not figuring out how to change things for the current staff into future generations.

Good Data - Starting Place

I've read a lot of negative reviews on this book, saying it has no concrete info, conflicting viewpoints, it's useless, etc. This was NOT my experience. I think Grant has presented an impressive amount of data, and you are able to take that information and do with it what you like. I don't think Grant intended for listeners to suddenly climb the corporate ladder and become CEOs based on his suggestions. In fact, a lot of his suggestions are about understanding the power of those around you, rather than stealing or destroying their power.

This book contains intriguing observations, legitimate scientific data, and anecdotes from extremely successful people. You can listen to their stories and try to glean pieces that are relevant to your life and situation. Learn from others' mistakes. Learn how to be a better employee. Learn how to impress those who are already IN power. And maybe learn how to build your own power. Regardless of the intent of Grant or the listener, this book held my attention and taught me new things, and it can probably do the same for you.

Powerful information

Powerful information about leadership in our world today. This is a very different business landscape and leadership must change as well.