7 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Stacey Ross Cohen's 2023 guide to personal branding for students and early-career professionals — helping next-generation professionals build authentic professional identities.
Bill Burnett and Dave Evans's 2016 application of Stanford's design thinking methodology to career and life decisions — using prototyping, iteration, and reframing techniques to help readers design a meaningful life, becoming the most popular book based on a Stanford course.
Whitney Johnson's 2015 guide to applying disruptive innovation theory to personal career development — arguing that intentionally disrupting yourself (taking on new challenges that restart the learning S-curve) is the optimal career strategy.
American business author and executive coach — author of Disrupt Yourself — who applies Christensen's disruption theory to personal career development.
Chip Conley's 2018 account of his experience joining Airbnb at 52 as a 'modern elder' — arguing that wisdom becomes a competitive asset in a world dominated by youth, and that the elder-apprentice relationship can work in both directions.
Paul Graham's essay arguing that the advice 'do what you love' is not a platitude but a serious and difficult challenge — requiring honesty about what one actually loves versus what seems prestigious.
Jason Brennan's blunt guide to academic careers — arguing that most people considering a PhD should not pursue one, and that academic work is not what outsiders imagine it to be.