Bill Burnett

Bill Burnett, co-author of "Designing Your Life" and Stanford's Life Design Lab co-director, shares insights on using design thinking to discover personal talents and navigate life’s roadblocks. He emphasizes that overcoming stagnation requires curiosity and experimentation. Additionally, Robert Armstrong discusses the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, connecting it to lessons in financial mismanagement and public perception shifts since the 2008 crisis. Together, they explore aligning personal values with career aspirations for a more meaningful journey.

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/bill-burnettIn the wake of a 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.Bill Burnett, co-author of the bestselling book Designing Your Life, has written a new book called Designing Your Work Life. 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.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). Takeaways: How setting micro-goals can help you achieve positive change at work. Why you might think about redesigning and iterating on your role at your current company if you’re unhappy. What the idea of “generative quitting” is, and why asking the question “What am I doing wrong?” might be a good idea before you decide to quit. BioBill Burnett is the co-author of the NYT Best-seller Designing Your Life. He’s also co-director of the Life Design Lab at Stanford University. He’s a designer, educator, and an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University. He’s also the Executive Director of the Design Program where he manages the undergraduate and graduate degree-granting programs and advises 70 -100 students annually. 

In this thought-provoking discussion, Bill Burnett, executive director of Stanford's Life Design Lab, shares insights on using design thinking to shape your life. He highlights the significance of self-discovery as a foundational step. With practical strategies, Burnett shows how to align personal values with career aspirations, tackle challenges, and reframe decisions. The conversation encourages curiosity and prototyping life choices, paving the way for richer, more fulfilling experiences.