Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career

About a lot more than just career change. Change is hard and takes time, but taking ACTION is the key to getting out of a less than satisfactory situation, and into something different. Only through action can we create a future self, in a different scenario. Study and assessments and introspection have their place, but ACTION is what will actually get you there.

As another reviewer said, Ibarra's audience is the upper echelon, not working people. We can't just quit and explore scuba diving for fun to find ourselves. No sabbatical where we're paid to fly to France and drink wine on a grant. (Really?!)

What I appreciated most about this book is the breadth of real case studies, which the author makes relevant and approachable. The core idea of this book is about “crafting experiments” to explore the possibilities for one’s next career chapter. Iterative cycles allow one to discover and test. It’s also important to expand the network of resources and seek out mentors or “guides.” Figuring out takes time, even more so for people in corporate jobs where the time to explore is limited and existing networks have little range.

Hugely insightful work for people in their 40's who are switching careers. It consoles, advises, encourages and inspires. Its main lessons are that you 'learn by doing' instead of doing lengthy analyses on oneself, and that any career change is the result of an iterative process. Maybe less practical than Bolles's 'What Colour is My Parachute', but much more incisive. I'll be re-reading its highlights many times.

have read first 20 pages or so. The stories of career changes are interesting, if a bit hard to relate to for someone not in high-power job (the target audience apparently). The basic point so far is that introspection is not the way to career change, but rather, experimentation and expanding new networks. More to come...