This Isn't Working audiobook cover - How Women Can Overcome Stress and Overload to Find Success

This Isn't Working

How Women Can Overcome Stress and Overload to Find Success

Meghan French Dunbar

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Career & SuccessManagement & LeadershipPersonal DevelopmentHealth & Nutrition

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This Isn't Working
The Rigged System+
Defensive Strategies+
Offensive Strategies+
Collective Action+
Systemic Transformation+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8
According to the book, what is the fundamental reason women struggle to succeed in the modern workplace?
  • A. They lack the necessary assertiveness and leadership training to compete.
  • B. The workplace was designed on patriarchal foundations that assume male superiority.
  • C. They struggle to balance professional responsibilities with family life.
  • D. The modern economy prioritizes technical skills over emotional intelligence.
Question 2 of 8
How does the author define 'patriarchy' in the context of the workplace?
  • A. As a moral judgment against men who actively discriminate against women.
  • B. As an outdated corporate structure that is rapidly being replaced by egalitarian models.
  • C. As a factual description of a society where men have historically held disproportionate power.
  • D. As a psychological barrier that women must overcome through individual resilience.
Question 3 of 8
What is recommended as a crucial part of a 'defensive strategy' against workplace gaslighting?
  • A. Confronting managers immediately when they make dismissive comments.
  • B. Working longer hours to ensure no one can question your dedication.
  • C. Filing formal complaints with HR for every perceived microaggression.
  • D. Creating 'psychological safety nets' with colleagues to verify your perceptions.
Question 4 of 8
To master 'strategic visibility' without playing politics, what specific tactic does the author suggest?
  • A. Emailing your ideas to key stakeholders before a meeting to create a paper trail.
  • B. Taking credit for team projects during all-hands meetings.
  • C. Refusing to do administrative tasks like taking notes or planning parties.
  • D. Only speaking to executives and ignoring informal networks.
Question 5 of 8
How should women handle requests to do 'office housekeeping,' like planning the holiday party?
  • A. Always decline them to avoid being stereotyped.
  • B. Delegate them immediately to male colleagues to level the playing field.
  • C. Agree to them conditionally by trading the task for an opportunity that advances their career goals.
  • D. Accept them enthusiastically to show they are team players.
Question 6 of 8
What is the danger of the 'myth of individual resilience'?
  • A. It encourages women to job-hop too frequently.
  • B. It keeps women exhausted and isolated by framing systemic barriers as personal endurance tests.
  • C. It makes women overly dependent on male allies for career advancement.
  • D. It causes companies to spend too much money on wellness programs.
Question 7 of 8
What role should men play as allies in workplace alliances, according to the text?
  • A. They should take the lead on strategy since they have more systemic power.
  • B. They should focus primarily on educating other men about basic equality.
  • C. They should step down from leadership positions to make room for women.
  • D. They should use their access to challenge systems while following women's lead on strategy.
Question 8 of 8
How does the author suggest transforming personal workarounds into structural change?
  • A. By keeping successful strategies a secret to maintain a competitive advantage.
  • B. By institutionalizing equitable practices, like rotating note-takers, into official team processes.
  • C. By waiting for executive leadership to mandate new diversity and inclusion training.
  • D. By leaving the current company and starting a new, equitable business from scratch.

This Isn't Working — Full Chapter Overview

This Isn't Working Summary & Overview

This Isn’t Working (2025) uncovers how patriarchal workplace structures create impossible double standards for women leaders, causing chronic stress and burnout that no amount of individual resilience can overcome. It offers a playbook for recognizing these systemic patterns, developing protective strategies, building collective power, and ultimately reshaping organizations to value human sustainability alongside business success. 

Who Should Listen to This Isn't Working?

  • Reformed “lean-iners” who followed all the advice but hit invisible walls anyway
  • Exhausted optimists who still believe in change but need sustainable ways to create it
  • Anyone who genuinely wants to understand and address workplace inequality

About the Author: Meghan French Dunbar

Meghan French Dunbar is an entrepreneur, business journalist, and women’s leadership expert who cofounded and served as CEO of Conscious Company Media, a media company dedicated to purpose-driven businesses. She created the World-Changing Women’s Summit, hosts the Better Than This podcast, and writes for outlets including Forbes and Inc. 

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