One Thing: Build It
Design Thinking Mini-Series, Part 3
Welcome to Part 3 of a mini-series on using design thinking to move toward your desired outcomes in work and life. Design thinking is particularly powerful during moments of transition like career shifts, graduation, retirement, empty nesting. If you’re at a threshold in work or life and want to do this transformational work in community, join the next cohort of Design Your Joyful Life, starting February 24th.
Hi friends,
Here’s what I love about design thinking: the bias to action. Designers don’t over-ruminate or analyze, they build their way forward. They prototype—small, doable, inexpensive tests—and learn with every step.
I used this approach after quitting my corporate job. I talked with certified coaches, listened to podcasts, worked with a coach, took mini-courses, and eventually committed to a year-long certification. I prototyped myself to where I am today. The alternative? Three years later, I’d probably still be suck in analysis paralysis.
Build It
Continue with your chosen realm — work, money, health, time, or relationships. The best prototypes let you collect data and fail rapidly without overinvesting.
Make a big, wide-ranging list of possible prototypes. Ask, “How many ways can we think of to _________?” (be more active, lose weight, make new friends, understand a day in X career).
Go for quantity, not quality. Aim for 10+ ideas, then review and group them in categories.
Choose one to try this week.
In Designing Your Life, the authors write that “life is a joyous and never-ending design project of building your way forward.” This week, lay that first brick.
Take good care,
Lisa