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The Female Brain written by Louann Brizendine was full of information that I found surprising and inspiring. One would think a book about the female brain a waste of time to read by a woman but in fact the opposite is true. I learned a lot about how my brain is different from the male brain for instance.

The author discusses the female brain from gestation through old age. It’s amazing how much can change over the course of a life time. This book definitely affected how I think about design especially as it pertains to children and adults. It brought up a lot of questions. What appeals to girls at various stages of development? What do women desire in relationships with men and women regardless of sexual orientation? How does sexual orientation manifest in women and when? All interesting questions. What impact does pregnancy, child-birth and parenthood have on a woman’s brain? How does “falling in love” affect the brain and the choices we make? How do we learn?

I believe this is a book that everyone should read regardless of gender. If you are a man it will give you some insight into the opposite sex and if you are a woman it will give you some insight into why you or your children do the things that they do.

If you design for females of any age I think you should read this book. The things you will learn will have an impact on how you think about design and what you give to your audience.

The book is worth a look if you are interested in the topic of Emotional Intelligence but also read Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. You can never know too much about how your feelings and emotions and those of others impact your success or failure in business and in life.

1. With Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to be successful in social media. Considering how hot social media became this year even if it’s just to get a better understanding of what’s going on this book is a must read.
2. Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone. is another great book about social media with tools and tips on how to get the most out of this emerging space
3. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future lets us know why right brain thinkers are the best thing since sliced bread. We need to be ready when right brain thinking becomes the way of the future and this book outlines it in easy to read manner. We follow the author as he takes tests and talks about what he learns about how the brain works and why it matters in today’s business world.
4. Unclutter Your Life in One Week is a step by step guide to de-clutter your life. What a better way to begin 2010 than to get rid of all the crap you don’t need. This book outlines how to go about doing just that in an easy to follow way. There is even a website Unclutterer.com if you need more tips.

I hope these recommendations make finding a present easier or maybe you could decide to get one of these books for yourself. Happy Holidays!

I recently read My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire by Michelle Goodman based upon the recommendation of a friend. I have to say I thought that after read a bunch of other books about freelancing and doing it for over 5 years I didn’t think I was going to learn a lot. Not the best attitude to have, but I read on average 5 books at once so I don’t like to start a book unless I’m going to finish it.

The guide covers everything from creating a business plan, developing a marketing strategy and dealing with clients. Most people skip creating the business plan because they think it needs to be complicated and long. Well that need not be the case. The author discusses why having a business plan is important i.e. for clarifying what you are doing, why you are doing it and also can you make a living at it.

The section on pricing in the book is worth the cost of the book. Figuring out how much to charge is one of THE biggest challenges most people face. I know I still struggle with it. I want to be fair to the client but I also need to charge what my services are worth. Someone will always want the cheapest price they can get for a job but usually I know that person is someone I am not meant to serve.

If you are new to freelancing or just need a kick in the butt to straighten out your business this book is a must read. The section about contracts is great too. If you know any good contract attorneys send them my way!

Michelle blogs at anti9to5guide.com or follow her tweets @anti9to5guide

Forrester’s Social Technographics® classifies consumers into six overlapping levels of participation

The six participant types are the following:

• Creators – responsible for generating content on the web. They blog, tweet and create YouTube videos
• Critics – respond to what others post. They review products and services.
• Collectors – organizers of content for themselves and others. They might use sites like digg.com, RSS, tags, etc.
• Joiners – have profiles on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
• Spectators – don’t actively participate in the conversation but read blogs. Listen to podcasts. Read product reviews.
• Inactives – ignore it all! online interaction just isn’t their thing.

These profiles are important to note to make sure your message is getting heard. If the clients I wanted to serve for example didn’t actively use Facebook then setting up a Facebook fan page would not be a good strategy for my business. An email newsletter would probably be better to get my message to the right people.

Check out the tool below to create a consumer profile and to see if your strategy aligns with the research.

© iStockphoto.com/dmbaker

I first heard about First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently when I bought Now, Discover Your Strengths. I decided to go take a peek at the book. The book is based on another study by the Gallup Organization and surveyed managers from a variety of industries.

The best take away from the book is whether employees can answer positively to the following questions:

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, have I talked with someone about my progress?
12. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

Great things to think about in your current position or when looking for a new job. I can’t say I’ve worked in an environment where I could answer positively to all 12 questions but I’ve come close a few times.

How about you? Is your work environment 12 out of 12 or under 5 or somewhere in the middle? If it is under 5, it is time to re-evaluate why you are working there and make some changes.

The quote on the front cover of Now, Discover Your Strengths claims that the book is a

revolutionary program that shows you how to develop your unique talents and strengths – and those of the people you manage

Well I don’t manage people often so the part about managing people wasn’t that meaningful to me but still intriguing. All that sounded great but how was I going to learn anything about my strengths. Well each book comes with a unique code that works only once online…so sorry you can’t borrow my copy…you then go to the testing website and complete the test. I’m sure the cynics will say that’s a nice way to sell books. If you’ve ever completed the Myer-Briggs test or any sort of personality test you are already familiar with the types of questions tests like these ask.

Strengths Defined

“First, for an activity to be considered a strength you must be able to do it consistently. And this implies that is a predictable part of your performance…The acid test of a strength? The ability is a strength only if you can fathom yourself doing it repeatedly, happily, and successfully.

Second, you don’t have to have strength in every aspect of your role in order to excel…excellent performers were rarely well rounded. On the contrary, they were sharp.

Third, you will excel only by maximizing your strengths, never by fixing your weaknesses. This is not the same as saying “ignore your weaknesses.” The people we described did not ignore their weaknesses. Instead, they did something much more effective. They found ways to manage around their weaknesses, thereby freeing them up to hone their strengths to a sharper point.

I really loved how they described constantly trying to fix your weaknesses as just “damage control”.

According to the authors most people think that with “enough practice almost everything is learnable”. I have to agree there are some things I have a natural aptitude for and others I don’t. I always know when I’m doing something that doesn’t come naturally. I am sure you have had the same experience. It’s like having teeth pulled without being put to sleep. I’ve had that done and I don’t recommend it!

There are 34 themes in the StrengthFinder profile and the book goes into detail about each one. Plus there are stories below each about people with those themes. In case you’re curious here are my top 5 strengths:

1. Empathy – Can sense the emotions of others
2. Connectedness –Believe things happen for a reason and that we are part of something larger than ourselves
3. Restorative – Love to solve problems
4. Individualization – Intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. Impatient with generalizations or “types” because you don’t want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person
5. Command – Desire to take charge. Share opinion.

Honestly I wasn’t exactly thrilled with my results when I first read them and even more so when I returned to the book and read the following.

There is one obstacle barring your progress: Your own reluctance

Two words popped into my head after I read that.

“Bite me!”

Then I kept reading.

I think I am going to focus more on my strengths rather than “damage control”. Why frustrate myself with a losing battle? Like we say in Trinidad – “It’s like spinnin’ top in mud”. You get nowhere.

Being empathic makes me a better user experience designer and so do all the other strengths I have. I always thought picking up on others feelings was kind of weird but after working in Bellevue as a teaching artist and computer graphics instructor with an autistic student. I better saw its value. I got a hug our last day of class. Not an easy thing to have achieved. And he made some money! One of his teachers bought his creation.

On page 130 of the book the authors write

…those things that “you can’t help but…” – are not mundane, commonplace, obvious. On the contrary, your instinctive reactions are unique. They make you different from everyone else. They make you extraordinary

Everyone doesn’t see the world the same way. Honestly it would be boring if we did. Now go discover your strengths!

As someone who works as a consultant or contractor both onsite and offsite I found her first chapter on “Authenticity – The Power is You” the one that really resonated with me. Especially in the job climate today with more candidates applying for positions it’s more important than ever to stay true to yourself and work the jobs that you enjoy or you won’t excel.

The day your company hired you, someone else did not get the job because you were the best candidate. They hired you because you had the best blend of skills, personality, and potential and a unique blend of values and abilities. Over any person they interviewed, the company felt that you could best execute the job, fulfill their need for talent, and satisfy their specific need for a discrete skill set. You got the job because you had a competitive advantage over all of the other candidates. That important competitive advantage? You. No one else can be you the way you can; this is your source of power within the organization. One of the keys to your long-term success in any organization is to own the person who you really are.

Sure you can take the jobs just for the paycheck but don’t work with people or companies whose values don’t align with yours. You will learn to regret it. You will dread working and you won’t do your best work. So why bother.

I highly recommend that you read Ms. Harris’s book. It has some great tips and ideas about overall career management. Chapter 4 is a gem “Perception is the Copilot to Reality: How People Perceive You Will Directly Affect How They Deal with You”.

So check it out. And after you read it drop me a line and let me know what you think.