Design Your (work) Life

Even if we learn to use design principles such as radical collaboration, empathy for people, starting small, prototyping to learn… all of this somehow goes out the window when we are thinking about how we design a life or a work life that we love. Yet, these same principles do apply, and they apply very well!  Bill Burnett and Dave Evans created and have been leading a global movement to help people navigate the ambiguity and beauty of our lives and careers through the use of design thinking.

We have a few ways to get you started on this journey, and as with other approaches, you will get out of it what you put into it.

To begin, watch the inspiration videos to get a sense of the approach and what it’s all about.  Then carve out a few hours to do this reflective exercise to capture and reflect on how you spend your time in an “average” week, both personally and professionally.

Next, you’ll be preparing your “Odyssey” journey consisting of sketching out 3 different futures for yourself –1.  your current path, 2. a path that you could take if today’s path was no longer an option for you, and 3. a “constraint free” path where there are no constraints and no judgements.  You will then reflect on what you see across these 3 paths.  What surprises you? What patterns do you see?  What brings you joy and why? What insights can you gain?

Finally, you brainstorm ways to “Prototype your Future” in low-bar easy-to-accomplish approaches.

We have a video that will walk you through all of these activities as well as a slide deck for your reference.  As you are thinking about investing in yourself as a leader, listen to Leadership 3 Daily Mantras from Dr. Jack Cochran who is a fierce leader and advocate for others in their leadership journey. His words of wisdom come from his personal experiences in leading tens of thousands of physicians across his career. The lessons are great to ponder and consider in your own work/life path.

If you can do this with others, even better.  Follow each activity with a Think, Pair, Share activity to help you process and go deeper into what you are learning about yourself.

That’s it, let’s get started.  Here’s to designing a good (work)life for yourself.  You are worth it.