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.

Distastefully Biased, and Not Very Useful

If you love Vox, Vice, or Buzzfeed, you'll probably enjoy this. The presentation and political stances are similar. I felt like my time was wasted, but luckily this was free, and short.

The first chapter had already given me a bad impression. With a title of "Power Moves" I came hoping to learn something about power and how to grow personally, actual "moves" you can make in your life. What I got was more like a report on the current status of power, and how it needs to change because it's too white and male. Which I find mildly ironic when they keep saying "power IS changing", yet the only thing they really have to say about this is "The internet is changing power", well no duh, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. I don't feel like I can say I came away from this feeling like I learned anything beneficial, and I would not recommend it to anyone I know.

While I found the injection of subtle "F-Trump" jabs to be distasteful, I can't say everything about the book is wrong. If I can be hypocritical for a moment, I also listened to "The Art of the Deal" and that was probably a bigger waste of time than this book. To their credit many of their statistics are true, although some follow the same logic as "Men's and women's median income is different, therefore society is sexist", without considering other factors. One idea they talked about that I take issue with is that "Women are discouraged from entering STEM fields". I don't think I should post external links in my review, but statistics show otherwise. Even The Atlantic has published an article showing that "In countries that empower women, they are less likely to choose math and science professions".

As for performance, the presentation style was engaging and flowed well. I wouldn't mind more books in this style. And while I understand bias is unavoidable, I wish this book could be more enjoyable by everyone.

Waste of Time

Not sure how this book got so many good reviews??? Makes me question all the rest. This book is terrible from the start, It is nothing more than interviews with various people of power while the writer tries to be witty and carry on a conversation with them. Multiple times the writer is making a case against several politicians clearly pushing his own political views while trying to do this on the sly so you won't notice. Also, there are several spots in the book where he is doing nothing but championing women, which in itself is fine. The information in this book while not all bad is pretty one-sided and does nothing from someone trying to better themselves. This book is masked by the title as something someone would buy on their journey to because a better, more powerful person in life and in the workplace. In my opinion don't waste your time.

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.

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"

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gets political.

Adam uses some of the most powerful people in the world's stories to advance his political agenda.

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.

Excellent

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

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.

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!

Inspiring and thought provoking!

I loved when Trump reported ssaid "I am the storm!" From the insights and the great storytelling, this book is a masterclass of sorts - from Aha moments to moments of inflection and reflection, I encourage anyone who wants to make a difference to read it. You will.