The Rethinking Work Show Rethinking Career Growth
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Jun 24, 2026 Cliff Maxwell, co-founder and CEO of Vocation and former CPU engineer turned career researcher, explores career progress versus mere progression. He discusses shaping roles to fit your strengths. He explains Vocation’s research-driven, AI-enabled approach to discovering unconventional transitions and building portfolio careers. He also covers negotiating flexibility to stay and thrive.
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From Engineer To Chief Of Staff
- Cliff moved from CPU engineering into education research after reading Clay Christensen's Disrupting Class and joined the Clayton Christensen Institute.
- That transition led to serving as Clay Christensen's chief of staff and later into venture and career work.
Progress Versus Progression
- Career progression focuses on external markers like titles and pay while career progress is about internal alignment and sustainable forward movement.
- Cliff Maxwell contrasts company-driven upward ladders with progress that may be lateral, sustainable, or restore control over time.
Research Driven Career Discovery
- Vocation bases its coaching on a decade of Jobs-To-Be-Done research including 1,000+ interviews to define what progress looks like in transitions.
- The book Job Moves codifies archetypes and a process later embedded into AI coaching.
