Week 40: Cookie Throwbacks & "Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard"

The book, "Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard" and I thought it was time to do a little cookie-recap, or "Flashback" summary for this "Flashback Friday"⁠

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This book is timeless! ⁠

So, of course - the golden question... WHY THIS BOOK?⁠

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The book walks through numerous examples of how to get people to change their behaviour. I can relate to this because my role is to get people to change their behaviour to be more inclusive and take accountability around self-reflection. ⁠

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The first chapter explains the emotional Elephant side and the rational Rider side telling the reader that you need to address and reach both. Then in order to be successful you need to clear the way for them to succeed. Make it really easy to reach the changed behaviour.⁠

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A great example of how Target wanted to be different and in 1992 it was a 3 billion dollar retailer compared to Wal-Mart which was 30 billion dollars. In 15 years they went from 3 billion dollars to over 63 billion dollars. How did they do this? They hired Robyn Waters who went from going to Italy and working with Armani to “ready to wear” fashion. She found early adopters who would take on something new and hired a designer to create different turtlenecks. The success of the coloured turtle necks gave her more leverage and she inspired her team by bringing in coloured M&Ms and coloured iMacs to get an emotional reaction. Teams wanted to work with her and were inspired by her work.⁠

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Chapter 9 is my favourite and it's focused on building habits. As I reflect on this I realize I love learning about how to create new habits and will read a lot about it. Putting things into practice and staying consistent is another challenge that I am working on. ⁠

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Even though it is 12 years later since this book was published I think it would be a great gift for someone or yourself to figure out how to create behaviour change.⁠

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Share your thoughts and comments below. Let me know if you enjoyed this book.⁠

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& don't forget to check out the hashtag or my previous posts for my favourite cookie recipes!⁠

Week 39: Honey Cookies & "How to talk to your boss about race"

Why this book?

This book was filled with facts & great practical advice when talking about race. Yes, it says to your boss; but it really can be anyone. She takes you through 9 chapters from spotting racism, to preparing for conversation, to holding the conversation and then following up.

Published in 2022 & it discusses how as you move up the leadership ladder the paler it gets, the author calls it the “reverse ombre.”.

Here are some facts to use at parties or presentations to explain why we need more representation in organizations:

-There are only 18 African American CEOS on the Fortune 500 list.

-Google’s leadership is 2.6 black and 3.7 Latinx.

-White men and women are 154% more likely to hold executive roles compared to Asian men and women.

-Racism against African Americans has cost the US economy $16 trillion in lost opportunities for employment, investment and economic consumption. Now I knew it was a lot but I didn't know this was in the trillions.

CHAPTER 2 dives into understanding your identity. I know I may mention this a lot but we cannot move the conversation on any EDI topic until we do some self-reflection of ourselves and our privilege. She has a set of great questions to ask yourself:

What social identities feel the most salient to you at work?

Which social identities do you think give you an advantage? Or disadvantage?

Finally, CHAPTER 6 "Pushing Back Against The Pushback" & 7 "From Model Minority to Affirmative Action to Problematic Pipelines" were my favourite.

This book is smaller than the average sized book and it was so easy to put in my purse which I really appreciated. So another great read for my feature!

Week 38: Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies & "Women & Power: A Manifesto"

This week, I am featuring Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies & "Women & Power: A Manifesto" by Mary Beard⁠

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Why this book?⁠

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This book is broken into 2 sections: The public voice of women and women in power. It is a short read at 104 pages full of interesting facts and stories dating back to Homer’s odyssey over 3000 years ago. ⁠

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The book starts off with a story about Odyssey’s son Telemachus telling his mother to go back to her room because “speech will be the business of men.” The mother turns around and goes back upstairs to her room. I thought wow if my teen ever spoke to me that way there would be some discussions happening. ⁠

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The author talks about how a low pitched voice indicates “manly courage” and a high pitched voice indicates “weakness”. Recently I received some advice around negotiating telling me to speak low and slow. I have to admit I was a bit surprised to hear this because I felt it meant in order to negotiate you need to negotiate like a man. ⁠

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I had hoped in 2022 we would move away from voice inflection as an opportunity to negotiate your salary. Overall this book provides the historical context to understand why gender inequality still exists today. ⁠

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Note: Also at Week 38 I was looking for a smaller book to read as well. I am rethinking 2023 and what my book goals will be. I am open to suggestions. Drop them in the comments below!⁠

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Ps. This cookie is delicious is the perfect combo! Let me know if you've tried a similar recipe?⁠

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