It has been
a while I have been contemplating with the idea of writing book summaries.
Given the time constraints we all have, book summaries serve as a valuable
resource as you can pick the key takeaways and learnings in couple of minutes of your reading.
This blog is a only a summary note of the book and does not capture the full content and all the details.
This blog is written for academic purpose, please do provide citation to the book The Squiggly Career, Authors - Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis, Publisher - Penguin Random House, UK.
I encourage the readers to buy the book for a detailed reading.
It's available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Squiggly-Career-Ladder-Discover-Opportunity/dp/0241385849
This book
summary is of THE SQUIGGLY CAREER, authors – Helen Tupper and
Sarah Ellis, published by Penguin Random House UK, which I read (rather
listened to it on Audible).
There
are total of eight chapters in the book.
· Welcome
to Your Squiggly Career
· Chapter
1: The Squiggly Career
· Chapter
2: Super Strengths
· Chapter
3: Values
· Chapter
4: Confidence
· Chapter
5: Networks
· Squiggly
Careers Summaries
· Chapter
6: Future Possibilities
· Chapter
7: Squiggly Career Conundrums
· Chapter
8: 100 Pieces of Career Advices
Welcome to Your Squiggly Career Summary
Today’s
careers are no more like Staircase/Ladders, rather they are Spaghetti like
Squiggly Careers.
The five
career skills required in this modern world of work are:
1. Super strengths (things you are
great at and applying these at work)
2. Values (What motivates and drives
you?)
3. Confidence (Belief in yourself,
build your resilience and support system)
4. Networks (People help people, build
a network based on giving)
5. Future possibilities (Career plans
are things of the past, explore the possibilities and take control)
Chapter1: The Squiggly Career (Summary)
1. The career ladder analogy has lost
it’s usefulness for describing today’s career.
2. The Who, What, When, Why and Where
of Work are all changing simultaneously.
3. No size fits all approach to career
development has become irrelevant and impossible.
4. No one cares about your career as
much as you do. Self-reflection, Self-awareness and Continuous Learning is a
must-do and not nice thing to do.
5. JD (job description) is no more
stagnant in today’s VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) work
environment.
6. Rethink on your relationship with
learning. Identify yourself as a learner
than being a knower.
7. 9 am to 5 pm schedule is fast
disappearing.
8. Design your own operating system.
9. Understanding your Why of work will
improve your decision making at work and make you feel fulfilled at work.
10. Five skills which will make you
succeed: Super strengths, Values, Confidence, Networks and Future
possibilities.
Chapter 2: Super strengths (Summary)
1. Strengths are the things you are
good at. Super strengths are the things you are brilliant at.
2. Spent 80% of your time focusing on
your strengths stronger and 20% of your time in mitigating any specific weaknesses
relevant to your job.
3. Strengths are the combination of
your natural talents and learned experiences.
4. Natural talents are what you are
good at. We often underestimate them and the positive impact it has on work.
5. Ask your colleague/friends/family
for three words that describe you (feedback).
6. Your learned strengths are
combination of your work, knowledge, expertise and behaviour.
7. You can find and evaluate your own
super strengths vs strengths by four criteria success, frequency, openness and
happiness.
8. Know what you want people to say
about you when you are not in the room.
9. Ask for strength based feedback –
e.g. can you tell me when I was in my best this week?
10. Take practical action to ensure your
strengths are visible and stands out. E.g. Job crafting, taking special
projects, team-based strength identification, online presence.
Chapter 3: Values (Summary)
1. Values makes you YOU. It motivates
and drives you.
2. Values are formed in three phases:
spongy, copycat and rebel. They are fully established by the time you reach
your early 20’s.
3. Knowing your values helps you in
three ways: a. Knowing your values at work, b. Using empathy and c. Using
values as a career compass to make better decisions.
4. You have 3 to 5 core values which
are your strongest motivator, which are ultimately most important to you.
5. You have a set of value which
effects your work and personal life. Values are not for value judgement.
6. Values can positively and negatively
affect you. Hence knowing and making use of values positively will have a
productive impact in your career.
7. Careers must have and must not give
clues to your values.
8. Defining what your values means to
you, will help you share them with other people at work.
9. Understanding others values helps in
creating teams with high trust, empathy and where everyone feels comfortable being
themselves.
10. Knowing your values and living them
is a work for life. So do revisit them regularly.
Chapter 4: Confidence (Summary)
1. Confidence is a skill. It can be
learned, practiced and improved.
2. Confidence gremlins holds you back
at work and everyone has them.
3. Work out to identify the triggers of your confidence
gremlins and when it holds you back.
4. To test and overcome your confidence
gremlins, take small actions.
5. Reward yourself for taking actions
towards your confidence gremlins.
6. Confidence and success goes hand in
hand. More successes you get, the more confidence you build.
7. The three R of building a success
mindset: Recognise, Record and Run your own race.
8. Build your support system around
with people who love you, understand you, challenge you and inspire you.
9. Use confidence boosters to calm
yourself down in tense moments.
10. Our top three confidence boosters
are: Watch your words, Be in your body and Practice makes perfect.
Chapter 5: Networks (Summary)
1. Networking is people helping people.
2. In a Squiggly career, your network
helps you to develop meaningful relationship, gain access to diverse
perspective and build your brand.
3. Everyone can build a network,
whether you are an introvert or an extrovert. Best relationships are build with
authenticity and which is right for you.
4. To build a brilliant network you
need three Ds: to be Discerning, to be Deliberate and to be Diverse in your approach.
5. Access the strengths and gaps in
your networks by identifying the network you have which supports your current
role, future possibilities and personal development.
6. The best network is build on what
you can give, without expectations of immediate gain.
7. To identify what you can give to a
network, start with your strengths and passion and how these can be helpful to
other people.
8. Not everyone will say yes to
networking request. So don’t get disheartened and take it personally.
9. Know what role you are playing in a
network: Consumer, Connector, Contributor or Creator.
10. Developing a network takes time,
energy and it is a work in progress.
Chapter 6: Future Possibilities (Summary)
1. The stage life of education, work
and retirement is getting replaced by multi-stage, multi-transitional squiggly
career.
2. Ditch your career plan in favour of
exploring future possibilities.
3. Define your obvious, ambitious,
dreams and pivot possibilities.
4. For discovering a future
possibility, be specific what you need to know and who can help you.
5. Future possibilities focus on your
What and career vision focuses on your Why.
6. Use a vision board (manifesto) to
point out what is important for you.
7. Treat yourself as work in progress
to future proof your future career.
8. People with high CQ (Curiosity
Quotient) are better placed to work effectively in ambiguity and uncertainty.
9. Feedback should be regular.
10. Grit is more important than talent
as an indicator for success.
Chapter 7: Squiggly Career Conundrums (Summary)
Seven common career conundrums:
1. Should I start a side project?
2. How do I find a mentor.
3. What should I do if my organization
does not invest in training?
4. How do I achieve work-life balance?
5. Should I stay? Or should I go?
6. How do I build my personal brand?
7. How can I be a leader, when I don’t
have a team?
Should I start a side project?
Starting side projects is becoming mainstream.
Side projects can be related to your passion (hobby),
problem solving (unmet needs), or idea testing side project (pilot).
Tips for starting your side projects:
·
Start
your side project and don’t wait for perfection.
·
Collaborate
with others on your side project.
·
Share
your side projects with many others.
·
Learn
and leap-frog.
·
Have
fun.
One book to read: Do Fly: Find Your Way. Make a
Living. Be Your Best Self – Gavin Strange. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26782674-do-fly
One video to watch: Don’t Complain, Create – Tina
Roth Eisenberg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk9sUoqiutQ
How do I find a mentor?
Don’t limit yourself to one type of mentor (e.g.
seniority). Find mentors based on their expertise and not on their age.
Mentoring relationship can be short term or
long term, depending on the career needs.
Become a mentor yourself.
While reaching out for mentoring, don’t make it
too formal. You can request for informal conversation time on specific areas
where you are looking for advice.
It’s not necessary to know all your mentors
personally. You can learn from distant learning mentors.
Three self-reflection questions before seeking for
a mentor: What do I want to learn and why? Whom I already know who can help me
learn what I want to learn or can get me connected to someone? How can I ask
for mentoring in a way which is interesting and meaningful to me.
One book to read: Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor:
The New Way to Fast Track Your Career. – Sylvia Ann Hewlett
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/17290914-forget-a-mentor-find-a-sponsor
One video to watch: The secret to great
opportunities? Tanya Menon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFgtI7nt6Q4
What should I do if my organization does not
invest in training?
Take ownership of your own career development.
Apply for grants for funding your own learning,
Seek support from your manager/organization (flexibility in time for pursuing
learning).
Create your own curriculum from MOOCs.
Create your own learning style and learning
community.
Be a learning advocate.
One book
to read: Mindset: Changing The Way You Think – Carol S. Dweck
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54328136-mindset---updated-edition
One video (YouTube channel) to watch: https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse
How do I achieve work-life balance?
What balance means to you, requires self-reflection.
Consider Work Life Integration.
Focus on two inter-related aspects: Feelings
and Choices.
Strive to have some control on the time you
spend and make conscious choices and decisions.
Choices to make: Get good sleep (7-8 hours), Do
exercise, Take a break (have a downtime), Turn off notifications and stop overuse
of technology, Make a friend, Don’t be apologetic/guilty.
One book to read: Thrive: The Third Metric to
Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom and Wonder –
Arianna Huffington.
One video to watch: How to Gain Control of Your
Free Time? Laura Vanderkam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3kNlFMXslo
Should I stay? Or should I go?
Are you Happy? And Are you Learning? (your
answer should be yes)
What’s the job after the next job? (think new
possibilities, take your time and don’t feel pressurized to take up a role if
it does not suit you).
Apply your strengths and your values at work.
Enjoy the journey rather than the destination.
(in squiggly career destination is unclear)
Work on improving your working relationship
with your manager.
Consider are you running from something in your
old role? (if you are running away from something it will impact your quality
of decision) Or Are you drawn towards something in your new role? (positive
drive will have a long term positive impact).
One book to read: The Start of You: Adapt to
the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career – Reid Hoffman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12030438-the-start-up-of-you
One video to watch: Why You Will Fail to Have a
Great Career Larry Smith Ted Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKHTawgyKWQ
How do I build my personal brand?
Build your authentic personal brand so that
interesting opportunities and possibilities come to you.
Make your brand visible.
Five personal brand principles: Start with your
strengths and values, Being mindful your personal brand is everywhere, Make a
positive Impact, Win-win: your personal brand should benefit you and your
organization, Invest your time and energy in building your personal brand.
One book to read: The Story Factor:
Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through the Art of Story Telling –
Annette Simmons https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/575386.The_Story_Factor
One video to watch: How to Build Your Personal
Brand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q-AlAG8a2Q
How can I be a leader, when I don’t
have a team?
Time is changing. Organizations are adopting
more agile ways of working and are looking outcomes rather than functioning out
of organizational chart.
Many organizations are experimenting with Holacracy
(a method of decentralized management and organizational governance. Self-governance
by team themselves). (Look up
Successful Leaders have the following qualities
in common: Good listener, Self-aware, Stay Curious, Ability to Influence and Persuade
others, Invest in self-learning and developing others.
Think laterally.
Lateral leadership ideas – Volunteer yourself,
Take up a problem to solve, Become a Mentor, Look for opportunities for gaining
exposure to leadership activities, Focus on your strengths and lateral leadership
experiences.
One book to read: Why Should Anyone Be Led By
You? Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/91832-why-should-anyone-be-led-by-you
Chapter 8: 100 Pieces of Career
Advice (Summary)
This chapter has 100 career advices from people
who have inspired the authors in their career journey.
Learning Resources from Squiggly Careers
authors:
Visit Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis website:
Amazing If
https://www.amazingif.com/
Tune into Squiggly Careers Podcast
https://www.amazingif.com/listen/
Happy Learning by reading, watching and listening!
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