Decisions and Questions
How do questions shape how we think about work?
In putting the syllabus together for my forthcoming class at UVA, I found myself structuring the sessions around questions. Many of the decisions we have to make in our careers occur in the form of questions - do I want to do this or that? should I take this job or go back to school, etc. - and so that format seemed like a natural fit. I also like the idea that the subject is more of an inquisition
I showed her the curriculum that I’m putting together. I have 15 hour and fifteen minute seminars to provide some kind of insight on “navigating complex decisions in work and career.”
What should the course cover? What should we read? What would be fun to read? What would be helpful to read?
A cavalcade of questions cascades when I crack that door.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the curriculum has taken the form of questions.
What is work? What is a career?
What should I do with my life?
What do I like doing?
What are my values?
etc.
Upshot - here are some questions that I think are important to think about. Not necessarily to answer, but to consider. To hold in your mind.
This is prob a good way to think about any job. What question am I answering here? If you can’t come up with a response, is that meaningful? How am I growing here? That’s prob a good indicator of whether you should leave…as long as growing is a goal/value of yours.
What questions do you think are relevant here?
When talking about turnover and leaving jobs in my class, I used to assign “Andrew Luck Doesn’t Owe Us Anything” (2019) by Brian Phillips in The Ringer. Just a very good piece about how it should be natural to make decisions for what’s good for you vs the expectations of others (in this case fans, but we all have them), but for many of us it’s not. The example is getting dated by now, and sports pieces have a shelf life…but that was one that resonated with the class…