May 10, 2013

The Art of the Five-Minute Favor

You should be willing to do something that will take 5 minutes or less for anybody. This simple notion is not only important for the purpose of being altruistic. It turns out that givers get good karma.

Jonathan Fowler and Elizabeth Rodd

One of the masters of the five-minute favor is Adam Rifkin, who was listed by Fortune as the best networker, with more connections on LinkedIn to the most powerful people in the world than anyone else. It turns out that this is due to the fact that Rifkin is a giver, “a sun with many different solar systems,” writes Adam Grant in his new book Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success.

Watch the Grant explain the art of the five-minute favor here:

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

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High Culture

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a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

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If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

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