Focaccia-Style Chickpea Flatbread and "Yes, And..." Thinking

I make rosemary and thyme chickpea flatbread (also known as socca) all of the time. It’s simple to make, delicious, nutritious, and extremely versatile.

When my dear friend, Jackie Newgent, plant-based culinary nutritionist and recipe developer extraordinaire, posted her Focaccia-Style Chickpea Flatbread, I said “Yes!” Her recipe has all of the same flavoring ingredients as mine, but she added baking soda to give it a rise and focaccia-like consistency. Brilliant! But, then again, Jackie is a brilliant chef. If she posts a recipe, I know it’s been tested and re-tested and is going to be awesome. This recipe included.

My reaction to seeing her recipe reminds me of the “Yes, And…” approach. Her idea to add baking soda was so simple, yet something that never occurred to me. I immediately thought that if we were brainstorming recipes together using “Yes, And…” thinking, I would say “chickpea flatbread” and she would say, “Yes, and add some baking soda so it’s more fluffy and focaccia-like.”

That’s the brilliance of the “Yes, And…” approach. Using the word “and” instead of “but” when brainstorming or just simply having a conversation leads to more positive and productive results.

The practice of “Yes, And…” thinking is to hear what someone else has said, accept it fully (yes), and then add a thought (and) that leads to something even better. When we say “but” to someone’s thought, we shut down the idea and any brilliant parts of that idea from moving forward. In addition, hearing the word “but” often leads to people being afraid to share their ideas in the future.

A thought doesn’t have to be perfect. It can have parts that are brilliant and other parts not as much so. But you’ll never know without saying, “Yes, And…” The approach naturally leads to the best parts of ideas and innovative solutions rising to the top; something we can all benefit from as we try to tackle the many global challenges we face today.

A simple way to test the power of “Yes, And…” thinking is to gather several people into a circle. One person shares a simple thought, and, subsequently, each person adds on by saying “Yes, But…” Then practice the same exact exercise, with the same exact starting thought, with this time each person saying “Yes, And…” instead. Observe where you land for each of these conversations. I’m pretty sure the “Yes, And…” conversation will have more positive results. And even if the end result for the “Yes, And…” exercise isn’t much better, I can guarantee the experience will be more positive and inspiring.

As I mentioned before and want to re-iterate, “Yes, And…” thinking is not just for better brainstorming results in the workplace. Utilizing it in your every day conversations with friends and family leads to more positive and productive interactions.

Now, back to Jackie and her amazing recipes and cookbooks.

You can click here for her Focaccia-Style Chickpea Flatbread. Scroll down her recipe blog and you’ll see many more of her amazing plant-based recipes.

If you love Jackie’s recipes as much as I do, you can access her many cookbooks here, and her latest and greatest cookbook here (coming out in October 2023). Please know that this cookbook can be enjoyed by anyone, even those that don’t have diabetes.

I’ll end on this note…Jackie and I have had many ‘Yes, And…” food recipe conversations and they have made me a better chef and recipe developer. I’ve texted her and reached to her cookbooks often to get insights and inspiration for the recipes swirling around in my head that I want to make better.