Notes on Fail Fast, Fail Often #3

The Lean Approach to Careers

1. Make the smallest viable action plan - just enough to take the next positive action.
   Don't worry about making a plan for the next three months, one year, or five years; instead focus on what you can do in the next week to have new experiences and learn.
   
2. Be good at taking small steps that allow you to try and learn about many things.
   Learn to enjoy initiating small actions that lead to immediate feedback.
   
3. Perform experiments to confirm or disprove your assumptions about occupations that you are curious about.Don't believe what you hear about a career or what you have learned from books and television. Come up with your own experiments that allow you to find out how you feel about an occupation, how hard it is to do, how good you are at it, and so on. For example, try volunteering, enriolling in an introductory course, taking an internship, or getting a part-time job.
   
4. Be prepared to change course; expect to make many small adjustments, as well as some big ones.Don't get stuck pursuing one career, even if you have committed time and resources preparing for it. It is normal and to be expected to adjust course according to what you learn and how your interests change.
   
5. Avoid big investments in education, training and preparation until you have learned as much as possible.Don't make a long-term commitment until you have taken steps to try things, test your ideas, and learn more. For example, if you are interested in being a doctor, volunteer at a hospital, take a chemistry course, and see how you do on practice MCAT tests before you commit to a pre-med plan.
   
6. Keep your plans informal.
   When your friends and family ask you what career you want to pursue, resist giving a specific answer. Instead, tell them that you are testing out a number of different ideas (and ask for their input). That way you can collect facts and change direction without feeling embarrassment or being called a quitter.