Category 15 · 10 frameworks
Career Direction & Planning
Frameworks for working out where your career is heading, why, and what to try next.
01
Odyssey Plans
Bill Burnett & Dave Evans, Designing Your Life (2016) Sketch three different five-year versions of your life to widen your options before choosing one. 02Ikigai Diagram
Japanese concept of a life worth living; the four-circle diagram is a Western adaptation, usually credited to Marc Winn (2014) A Venn diagram combining what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for. 03Working Identity
Herminia Ibarra, Working Identity (2003) Career change works best by doing first and reflecting after: experimenting with new activities, relationships and stories, rather than planning everything upfront. 04Career Anchors
Edgar Schein Eight anchors describe what you will not give up in a career: technical competence, general management, autonomy, security, entrepreneurial creativity, service, pure challenge and lifestyle. 05Holland Codes (RIASEC)
John L. Holland Six interest types, Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional, matched with work environments. 06Career Capital
Cal Newport, So Good They Can't Ignore You (2012) Build rare and valuable skills first, then trade them for the control and meaning you want, rather than starting from a fixed passion. 07Job Crafting
Amy Wrzesniewski & Jane E. Dutton (2001) Reshape your current job by changing tasks, relationships and how you think about the work, without changing employer. 08Life-Career Rainbow
Donald E. Super Careers involve several life roles, such as worker, learner, citizen, homemaker and leisurite, that vary in importance across life stages. 09Planned Happenstance
John D. Krumboltz, with Kathleen Mitchell and Al Levin Unplanned events shape most careers, so build habits that create and make use of chance opportunities. 10Regret Minimisation Framework
Jeff Bezos, describing his decision to found Amazon Project yourself to old age and ask which choice you would regret less, to cut through short-term fears.Not sure where to start?
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