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jcstokes95's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.5
If a self-help book is anything, it should be practical. Kim Scott's book wins a near five-star rating from me because she gives great actionable advice by role. I have a friend on a DEI committee who deals with a lot of, well, whining from members with the most privilege about "where to start" to be better allies. I've suggested this as her go-to.
Scott breaks down the major roles anyone can have in a situation dealing with bias- people harmed, people who harm, bystanders and leads- and paints a picture of next steps for each person. I think the two biggest takeaways in this book are on the importance of bias interrupters and eradicating "culture fit" as a metric in the hiring process.
Scott hits every note on bias interrupters, including an explanation of why the people harmed can't be the only ones responsible for educating and why it is so important to make it a part of your culture to interrupt bias. She tackles calling out vs. calling in. And the importance of not being afraid to have the conversations in public so as to educate. (This particularly sits well with me as I say though a company training that praised people dealing with racist/sexist remarks privately yesterday. God forbid we ever publicly acknowledge such things exist in our perfect fantasy of a workplace). If there were one thing I could somehow get my team at work to learn about, this would be the thing.
The amorphous concept of "culture fit" is also particularly satisfying to watch her smash. I think this is a particularly prescient consideration in companies that thrive on referrals. If your team is white, and you live in a country that has had a vested interested in segregating whites and BIPOC for centuries, what do you think your team will look like if you only use referrals to guarantee a culture fit? I think a lot of upper management could use Scott's common sense here to understand why they are failing to retain employees from underrepresented backgrounds.
All in all, if you only have patience for one business book, this is the one to choose for usable practices.
Scott breaks down the major roles anyone can have in a situation dealing with bias- people harmed, people who harm, bystanders and leads- and paints a picture of next steps for each person. I think the two biggest takeaways in this book are on the importance of bias interrupters and eradicating "culture fit" as a metric in the hiring process.
Scott hits every note on bias interrupters, including an explanation of why the people harmed can't be the only ones responsible for educating and why it is so important to make it a part of your culture to interrupt bias. She tackles calling out vs. calling in. And the importance of not being afraid to have the conversations in public so as to educate. (This particularly sits well with me as I say though a company training that praised people dealing with racist/sexist remarks privately yesterday. God forbid we ever publicly acknowledge such things exist in our perfect fantasy of a workplace). If there were one thing I could somehow get my team at work to learn about, this would be the thing.
The amorphous concept of "culture fit" is also particularly satisfying to watch her smash. I think this is a particularly prescient consideration in companies that thrive on referrals. If your team is white, and you live in a country that has had a vested interested in segregating whites and BIPOC for centuries, what do you think your team will look like if you only use referrals to guarantee a culture fit? I think a lot of upper management could use Scott's common sense here to understand why they are failing to retain employees from underrepresented backgrounds.
All in all, if you only have patience for one business book, this is the one to choose for usable practices.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Racism
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