April 15, 2016
Burnett is the executive director of the Design Program at Stanford, Evans an adjunct lecturer there, and together their thinking has contributed to the creation of the Apple Mouse, the laptop computer, and more. Now they apply their design smarts to something really key: your life. With a 300,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 4, 2016
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Burnett and Evans present an empowering book based on their popular class of the same name at Stanford University. At the center of their philosophy is the idea that people need a process—a design—to make any sort of significant life change. After encouraging readers to unflinchingly examine their own views of work and life, the authors advise readers to undertake “prototyping,” a method for exploring new life directions in manageable and realistic ways. A key tool is creating a “Good Time Journal,” an outline of the times when readers felt most engaged and energized. What their plan has no room for, however, is agonizing over paths not taken. “The fourth step in the process is to let go,” the authors state. Perhaps the book’s most important lesson is that the only failure is settling for a life that makes one unhappy. With useful fact-finding exercises, an empathetic tone, and sensible advice, this book will easily earn a place among career-finding classics. Agent: Doug Abrams, Idea Architects.
September 1, 2016
Burnett and Evans myth-bust their way through common career and life challenges by presenting dysfunctional beliefs and reframes. As an example, You start out thinking you are designing a product (a new coffee blend and a new kind of coffee machine) and reframe when you realize you are actually redesigning the coffee experience (Starbucks). Why do this? Because here's the big truth: there are many versions of you and they are all right.' And life design will help you live into whatever version of you is playing at the Cineplex. The authors, both Stanford professors, have taught a course by the same name for the past 15 years. Now, through well-designed exercises, helpful explanations, and examples, the reader is given the opportunity to use these tools to design his or her own life. It will take hard work, but as the authors point out, no one has failed their course. Library patrons may prefer this over the perennial updates to What Color Is Your Parachute?, and with widespread promotion, this title may fly off the shelves of public libraries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)
Starred review from July 1, 2016
Silicon Valley innovators Burnett and Evans, both Stanford University professors, propose a design process for helping people to determine what they want out of life and how to accomplish their goals. Their strategies involve reframing dysfunctional beliefs (e.g., "It's too late") into positive ideas (e.g., "It's never too late to design a life you love"), helping readers generate an action plan. Along the way the authors cover such topics as getting unstuck and building immunity against failure. A wealth of personal examples aid in applying the principles. VERDICT One of the best books on how to build a secure and fruitful future.
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.