Author Bill Burnett: Designing Your Work Life

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the wake of a worldwide pandemic and economic catastrophe, many of our friends and colleagues in the world of digital product design are fortunate to have kept their jobs, but there have also been many who were not so lucky. We thought it would be timely to bring in an expert who has been using a designer’s mindset to help people reframe their approach to their careers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bill Burnett, co-author of the bestselling book</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Designing Your Life</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, has written a new book called</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Designing Your Work Life</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Bill has been the executive director of the design program at Stanford for 13 years and has also taught one of the most popular elective classes there (which his first book was named from). He and his co-author Dave Evans have taken what they have learned from teaching and running workshops for adults in the midst of a career or life transition to come up with a framework for using tools like curiosity, reframing, radical collaboration, and a bias to action to transform your work life and find the best job for you.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this interview,  we speak with Bill about how adopting a designer’s mindset can help you through your current challenges if you’re searching for work. We also chat about how grit and perseverance maps to happiness at work, and how setting aside time for reflection can help you understand what changes you need to make to find a better job (which may even be in your current company). </span></p> <p><strong>Takeaways:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How setting micro-goals can help you achieve positive change at work.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why you might think about redesigning and iterating on your role at your curr