Designing Your New Work Life offers a practical, design-thinking approach to helping employees navigate an ever-changing work landscape—without assuming they need a new job to thrive. For HR Talent leaders and managers supporting upskilling and reskilling, the book provides a clear framework for having more effective, future-focused skill conversations.
Burnett and Evans introduce a designer mindset—curiosity, reframing, rapid experimentation, and a bias toward action—that helps employees and managers explore possibilities together. Instead of treating dissatisfaction or skill gaps as problems to fix quickly, the book encourages teams to slow down and practice problem-finding: identifying what’s actually getting in the way of performance, growth, or engagement. That clarity leads to better coaching, better development plans, and more targeted reskilling pathways.
A core contribution is the ARC model—Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence—three levers managers can pull to strengthen motivation and help employees build confidence during change. The book provides language and examples managers can use to redesign tasks, clarify expectations, encourage new skill practice, and create conditions where learning feels doable and supported.
Crucially, the authors emphasize small, low-risk experiments. Employees try micro-shifts in responsibilities, workflows, or skill application—giving managers a practical way to test and tailor reskilling efforts in real work, not theoretical plans. It’s a structured way to help people “design forward” while staying productive in their current roles.
And when a role truly cannot evolve to match a person’s strengths or growth goals, the book offers guidance on “generative quitting”—a respectful, future-oriented transition that preserves relationships and keeps talent connected to the organization’s broader ecosystem.
For organizations investing in reskilling, this book strengthens the manager’s toolkit: better conversations, clearer diagnosis of needs, and a shared mindset that supports continuous learning. It helps managers and employees co-create pathways that keep both the work and the workforce adaptable, motivated, and aligned to what’s next.

Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work

future of work

Future of Work

design thinking

newton.moore

angie.zeigler

Mike.Slepikas

janice.simmons

leadership development

performance management

talent development

learning &amp; development

missy.gonzales

katrina.williams

Coaching

employee engagement

employee experience

organizational development

skill development

career pathing

yolanda.mangram

brian.gold

retention strategies

deepa.kartha

ali.glaser

workplace design

career redesign

human-centered design

dan.kwong

jerry.oliveira

david.chodak

The Interactive Companion to the #1 New York Times Bestselling Book

Design the most important project of all: your life. Based on the wildly popular Stanford course that started the life design movement, this notebook, which has a metallic spiral spine, frosted acetate cover, and elastic bellyband allows you to dig deeper into your curiosities, motivations, and skills; define your goals; and track your progress. Work through innovative option-generating tools and exercises, including:

· A Health/Work/Play/Love Dashboard tool to reflect on your work/life balance
· Questions to help you articulate your Lifeview and Workview and define your life design Compass
· Good Time Journal pages to log your energy and engagement throughout the day
· Fold-out dotted paper for mind mapping to generate new ideas and getting unstuck
· Worksheets to help you ideate alternate Odyssey Plans for different versions of the future you
· Charts for tracking your Life Design Interviews

Whether you’re a recent graduate, mid-career, or contemplating your encore life or retirement—and whether it’s time to make that big move or you’re just interested in making your current situation a little bit better—The Designing Your Life Workbook is your dynamic roadmap to building a joyful, fulfilling life that always holds the possibility of surprise.

The Designing Your Life Workbook: A Framework for Building a Life You Can Thrive In

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