Power Moves

Lessons from Davos

By: Adam Grant

Narrated by: Adam Grant

Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Glad I didn't pay for it

The author really seems like a young, fresh college graduate that threw himself into the realm of CEO's based off of a contact he had. He analyzes power as some sort of tangible good, that all these CEO's are focused on is gaining more power more than success of their companies or revenue. I got about 3 chapters in, the idea of setting this book up like a documentary with interviews is not a bad idea, but the way it was presented and the authors' views make it difficult to take seriously and learn from.

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?

Too ideological

The writer willingly ignores certain facts in order to push his ideological beliefs mostly centred around Feminism and "progressivism". He picks the facts that reinforce his ideology and ignores the ones that do not. As a result throughout most of the book he makes an error of mistaking cause and effect. This made me doubt his research and the overall usefulness of the book. (as an example, when he talks about men who are "takers"(assertive, dominant) he outright calls them psychopats and sociopaths, but in the next chapter he encourages the same behaviour in women stating that it is beneficial. The production quality is great and some of the guests are amazing, it's a shame the writer focused more on pushing his political agenda than writting a useful book.

Disorganized

This book was all over the place and made no sense. Just a collection of short interviews that were not very good. This book is really a podcast.

Not for me

There was little concrete in the book. Power is dealt with in an abstract manner, and there are scarcity of gripping points in reality. Much of the book deals with gender equality.

Annoying

Everyone has a different taste of course, and this was not mine. I did finish the book, hoping it would become better, but these were 3 hours wasted that I won't get back.
Imo it takes a postmodernist approach to power, and if you're not a postmodernist / neo-Marxist / cultural Marxist, you won't agree with a lot of its rather one-sided view of power.

Plus, I found the narration gratingly annoying. Of course this also depends greatly on personal taste, so do check out the sample before you download, even though the book is free.

Not as described

This audiobook started off in the right direction. Shortly after turned political and hard to follow what the point is. Unable to return the audiobook though I have no intention to bother hearing any part of this again. I carefully read the descriptions of selections before purchase, and am disappointed.

This podcast made me tired

This book is about how white men harassed and exploited every one and that our time is over. I am a white male, political left leaning and I haven’t harassed anyone, and I’m tired of the evil white men narrative.

To leftist for an Independent.

I wasn't looking for a really politically biased book. Man-splaining? That's not educational speech, it's political.

Lots of Implicit Bias

The monthly free books are good as the books are free.

This novel came off as extremely bias without much evidence to backup the largely stereotype style of delivery.

Had to turn it off halfway through as it never leveled out and came off as a smear campaign of anything the author didn't like. A bad version of 'Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus"

Interesting interviews but spurious conclusions

Beautifully narrated with some interesting interviews, however many of the theories put forward are either re-hashed or drawn from work that has already been well critiqued. In giving an unbalanced view, there is precious little illumination of concerning statistics many are already aware of.

More of a series of podcasts than a book

Not up to the same quality as Adam’s other publications. Waste of a audible credit.

Excellent

A powerful reminder of things you already know and some brilliant new insights. The first person interviews are great

More like a podcast

It's a series of interesting, well produced interviews, strung together. The result is more like a podcast series with different themes per episode and not a lot of continuity. The total is not more than the sum of its parts in my view.

Just an extended podcast really

I think I got this on £1 sale or £3 sale so no big loss. It’s certainly not an audio book because it’s just a series of interviews, with not much takeaway. There are better podcasts out there for free that are better.

Great

Interesting, informed discussions about power in an easy-listening format. Nice variety of perspectives and people.

Thought provoking

Very much enjoyed listening to the experiences of others and the breadth of topics covered in this audio book. Thanks

Short, enjoyable, insightful

I enjoyed the listen while washing dishes or going to work. I would give 5 stars if not for the music effects, completely unnecessary.

Another brilliant AG thesis on a complex topic

At this point Adam is not writing books as fast as I want to read them. I feel enriched by a different,better view of the world after every book and am able to refine my purpose in service of the world with examples and perspectives Grant offers. This one is another for the library to be revisited. Highly recommend!

Brilliant conversations!!

Loved every chapter. Very applicable insights, even for now post-pandemic. Should be read more than once.