Designing Your Work Life teaches readers how to create the job they want—without necessarily leaving the job they already have.
The book applies the principles of "design thinking" to one's career. Instead of viewing a job as something you're stuck in, or something that needs to be completely abandoned to find happiness, the authors suggest a more iterative and creative approach. They encourage readers to "redesign" their current job to make it more fulfilling, rather than just quitting.
Key concepts in the book include:
- Dispelling the "money or meaning" dichotomy: The book argues that you don't have to choose between a job that pays well and one that you find meaningful.
- The importance of "problem-finding": Before trying to solve a problem (like being unhappy at work), you need to correctly identify what the real problem is.
- Adopting a "designer mindset": The authors encourage traits like curiosity, reframing, and a bias toward action to experiment with different aspects of your work life.
- The ARC method: This stands for Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence, which the authors identify as key sources of motivation at work.
- Generative quitting: If a job redesign isn't possible, the book offers advice on how to quit your job well, leaving on good terms and setting yourself up for future success.
“Increasingly, it’s up to workers to define their own happiness and success in this ever-moving landscape,” they write, and chapter by chapter, they demonstrate how to build positive change, wherever you are in your career. Whether you want to stay in your job and make it a more meaningful experience, or if you decide it’s time to move on, Evans and Burnett show you how to visualize and build a work-life that is productive, engaged, meaningful, and more fun.
