The Waysfinder Model provides a simple and flexible way to navigate worklife complexity. Its founder, Sonja Blignaut, suggests that the model expects multiple ideas or products to be simultaneously and collaboratively attempted based on the potentialities from each starting point. I could not think of a better model to support individual and organizational career development. For example, Blignaut highlights that “at its heart, [Waysfinding] enables a process of continuous orientation or ongoing situational assessment and sense-making of where we are, who we are, and where we fit in the current environment.” Careers – from our intention to our goals to our options – are complex and ever-evolving, which makes them challenging to navigate. Here are three was to use the Waysfinder framework for career development.

Waysfinder – plan to adapt

Blignaut’s Waysfinder framework for making decisions amidst complexity suggests that we need to shift from seeking tidy, linear solutions to striving for “messy coherence” – she expands on the idea:

Embracing messy coherence requires us to let go of long-held assumptions of a world where stability, certainty and predictability are the norm. In this world, we were taught to use linear, deterministic management methods and tools and also that alignment to shared goals and values is key to success. The COVID19 pandemic and climate change, among others, have made us realize that we do indeed inhabit a complex and entangled world, one that is unpredictable.

Rather than setting specific career goals or lauding a fully formed five year plan (which is, for the record, super-cringe-worthy when discussed in social circles), planning to adapt means setting a direction or intention and then adjust course along the way (more on this later). Constructing unexpected career opportunities from unexpected situations, also known as “planned happenstance”, looks like meeting someone at a party who works at an organization that’s always interested you and then turning that conversation into an informational interview or a job opportunity. It also looks like analyzing inefficiencies or low client satisfaction results and then presenting a possible solution to your teammates (which could turn into leading a new project, getting picked to attend an awesome conference, or even earning a raise). Planned Happenstance is a philosophy that you should cultivate in your work and life and, from my perspective, the Waysfinder framework brings it to life with the right balance of structure and flexibility for individuals, organizations, and for supporting practitioners.

Individuals

Our careers are full of messy coherence. In fact, Robert Pryor and Jim Bright’s Chaos Theory of Careers recognizes that change and happenstance influence our worklife as much as stable factors like our skills, knowledge, and personality do. By learning how to be resilient and adaptable, folks can live on what Pryor and Bright call the “the edge of chaos” – Andrew Bassingthwaighte, in his contribution to the Ceric career development community, puts this in context:

Chaos is not new. Throughout history, we have seen how times of chaos have created conditions for major innovations that have dramatically changed the world that we live in. On a smaller scale, the chaos experienced by clients can also create the conditions for something impactful to take place. Rather than being afraid of what chaos can do, it’s time to take control of chaos and turn it into your clients’ personal superpower.

Facts. Amidst the chaos of the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of people across North America, myself included, changed jobs and localities.

Here is an example of Waysfinding individual career development (maybe you have ideas about whose plan this is):

Notice that there are some must-follow rules, such as community and their most important relationships, and some flexible ones, such as where and with whom they might work. This individual has created a variety of options to explore and timelines for evaluating progress. When we learn quickly from our experiences, we can tinker with (or totally blow-up) our milestones or maybe even our career intention. Such a process is best enabled when we’re constantly seeking feedback from and listening to others. Using this approach, we can build a career in ways that aligns with our values and enables adaptability.

Recently I took part in training on the Waysfinder model and the facilitator used the concept of doing the next best thing when we are weighing into things like career decision making. Whenever we experience an aspect of chaos we can always reflect on the next best thing possible for advancing, sustaining, or reworking our career plan.

Organizations

Cooperatives, corporations, and communities can use Waysfinding to align individual career development with their organization’s talent needs. Blignaut’s examination of Wayfinding in the context of hybrid work provides clues for how the framework might be applied to career development:

This collective wayfinding approach enables different parts of the organisation to find the emergent ways of working that fit their context while remaining coherent to the whole. It helps managers to move away from top-down, one-size-fits-all mandates and encourages flexibility. A by-product of this approach is increased complexity fitness, i.e. greater comfort with uncertainty, ambiguity and emergence, which in today’s world is no longer a nice-to-have.

Organizations should transparently and clearly share their intention for investing in talent as well as set clear boundaries for how employees ought to build careers. For example, when folks know that, generally, employees receive more support, such as additional tuition reimbursement, mentorship, and coaching, for building careers towards leadership roles, business analytics (especially new market development), and/or pension policy and research expertise, there is more likely alignment between individual and collective goals. In this scenario, an employee keen on becoming a project manager knows that they might need to look elsewhere for a role when their certification is complete (and they might only receive a standard investment in their development).

Here is an example of the Waysfinder model being applied to drive the growth of a senior leadership team:

This model highlights multiple tactics – training, storytelling, mentorship – that leaders can build and apply the skills required for more flexible decision-making and adaptive planning.

Career practitioners (or educators)

Values, clear and open intention, and boundaries that are both flexible and fixed are all parts of great career conversations that practitioners are having with clients. By encouraging open-minded exploration, embracing the next best thing that clients can do, and recognizing the value of constantly seeking feedback, career practitioners can help clients navigate their unpredictable career paths. Waysfinding careers challenges many traditional career ideas and empowers clients to embrace uncertainty by valuing intention and general direction over goals and titles, which transforms obstacles into opportunities for ongoing transformation.

My awesome colleague Dolly created a fillable form (notice the intention and flexible boundaries) that practitioners might use to enable career conversations:

Note the intention of becoming a policy leader and the flexible boundary of what role and location the client might take on.

Simply filling in the model and revisiting in during subsequent sessions will foster ongoing, ever-changing career conversations that equip clients with the skills and knowledge required for thriving in a job market that is chaotically shifting. Like, every week we need to learn, unlearn, and relearn!

Waysfinding combines storytelling, agility, pattern-identification, tracking random events, and acknowledging/celebrating milestones. This approach helps clients gain clarity, appreciate their uniqueness, and create empowering career narratives.

Set your intention

Career development helps people and organizations thrive. Amid changing work landscapes, career development remains vital for individuals and organizations. Defining career development collectively and fostering one-on-one conversations between managers and employees can strengthen adaptability, alignment, and engagement in career journeys. It’s a shared responsibility that boosts growth and resilience in healthy and thriving communities.

If you do one thing after reading this article, create an intention statement for your career. If you do two things, create an intention statement and decide what is the next best thing that you can do to serve that intention today.