Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work

by Bill Burnett

The trick here is to remind yourself that you’re going for the Best Doable Option (BDO), which is not the same as the Best Theoretical Option (BTO). It is very tempting to want to find the BTO. That’s the option that you think you should be able to figure out; it’s the one you deserve; and it’s the one that probably doesn’t actually exist! It’s only in your head. If you really did know exactly what you wanted for dinner, then your BTO becomes a BDO, but the fact is you don’t know! (And frankly, if you did, what are the chances that there’s a Hungarian goulash place nearby that’s open at this hour?) When you’re distracted by the idea of the BTO, all the BDOs—the things you can actually do, like ordering kung pao chicken or a Philly cheesesteak sandwich—seem like a compromise. They’re all “settling,” and you don’t want to settle. But you aren’t actually settling, because an option that doesn’t exist in reality isn’t an option—it’s just an idea. Designers are all about making things—real things. We want you to real-ize your dreams, not just dream them. So formulate the list of actually available options, then pick the best one.