When reflecting on the books that have influenced her the career the most, Annie Jean-Baptiste mentions one book… Support our news coverage by subscribing to our Kindle Nation Daily Digest. Joining is free right now!
As head of product inclusion at Google, Annie Jean-Baptiste works to ensure that the products and services Google offers are inclusive and reflective of the diverse audience the company serves.
Since starting at Google nine years ago, the 31-year-old has served as an account manager and a diversity programs manager before stepping into her current role two years ago. When reflecting on the books that have influenced her the career the most, Jean-Baptiste tells CNBC Make It Adam Grant’s “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World,” comes to mind.
“Just given that sometimes you’re in a space that’s new and a little bit uncharted, I think that reading about people who have started something from scratch or started something that people didn’t totally get at first is interesting,” she says. “It’s just really interesting to see how they build that consensus up from the ground floor.”
In Grant’s bestselling book, the Wharton School professor uses data and research to show readers what it takes to bring an original idea to life. He also challenges the belief that you have to take a crazy amount of risk in order to birth a great idea.
“You don’t have to be a round peg in a square hole to be original,” Grant said on CNBC’s “On the Money” in 2016. “In fact, many originals hate taking risks.”
For example, he says, “If you look at the data, entrepreneurs who avoid risk by saying, ‘You know what, I’m going to keep my day job before I go all in’ are 33% less likely to fail.”
Though Grant’s book may be perceived as a read that focuses on entrepreneurship, Jean-Baptiste can relate to the idea of building something from the ground up, considering her current role at Google was non-existent a few years ago.
Read full post by Courtney Connley for CNBC
Buy your copy of Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World here