Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career

Herminia Ibarra

About the Author

Dr. Herminia Ibarra is the Charles Handy Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School. Before that, she served on the INSEAD and Harvard Business School faculties. She received her Ph.D. from Yale University and has been recognized for her influential contributions to leadership development, career transitions, and organizational behavior.

Dr. Ibarra has researched professional reinvention extensively throughout her career, focusing on how individuals navigate career transitions and develop practical leadership skills in dynamic business environments. She is acclaimed for her work on the importance of experimentation and exploration in career development.

Dr. Ibarra has published articles in Harvard Business Review, leading academic journals, business publications, and international news media, as well as two books, Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career and Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader. In addition to her academic contributions, Dr. Ibarra is a speaker and advisor.

Sources: and “About the Author” section of the book

Our one-sentence summary

Rather than overfocusing on introspective analyses, rely on unconventional strategies based on experimentation and exploration to reshape your professional identity and successfully navigate career transitions.

Publisher’s Summary

How Successful Career Changers Turn Fantasy into Reality

Whether as a daydream or a spoken desire, nearly all of us have entertained reinventing ourselves. Feeling unfulfilled, burned out, or just plain unhappy with what we’re doing, we long to leap into the unknown. But we also hold on, white-knuckled, to the years of time and effort we’ve invested in our current profession.

In this powerful book, Herminia Ibarra presents a new model for career reinvention that flies in the face of everything we’ve learned from “career experts.” While common wisdom holds that we must first know what we want to do before we can act, Ibarra argues that this advice is backward. Knowing, she says, is the result of doing and experimenting. Career transition is not a straight path toward some predetermined identity but a crooked journey along which we try on various “possible selves” we might become.

Based on her in-depth research on professionals and managers in transition, Ibarra outlines an active process of career reinvention that leverages three ways of “working identity”: experimenting with new professional activities, interacting in new networks of people, and making sense of what is happening to us in light of emerging possibilities.

Through engaging stories—from a literature professor turned stockbroker to an investment banker turned novelist—Ibarra reveals a set of guidelines that all successful reinventions share. She explores specific ways that hopeful career changers of any background can:

Explore possible selves
Craft and execute “identity experiments.”
Create “small wins” that keep momentum going
Survive the rocky period between career identities
Connect with role models and mentors who can ease the transition
Make time for reflection—without missing out on windows of opportunity
Decide when to abandon the old path to follow the new
Arrange new events into a coherent story of who we are becoming

A call to the dreamer in each of us, Working Identity explores the process of crafting a more fulfilling future. Where we end up may surprise us.

Source: Book Jacket

Detailed Summary

Part I

Chapter 1: Reinventing Yourself

Our working identity is not something hidden within us that we need to discover. Our identity is made up of many possibilities. Some are tangible, and some are concrete. But they’re all defined by our actions and the people with whom we relate.
Changing careers is about changing ourselves; it’s about changing our identities.
When seeking to reinvent ourselves, whether we’re changing jobs or careers altogether, we often think we need to focus inwardly. We believe we need to define what it is that we really want so that we can use that knowledge as our guide to action. However, it should be the other way around.
- Doing comes first.
- Second comes knowing that because we are changing careers, we are also redefining our working identity.
While this sounds like it goes against conventional wisdom, the truth is that no amount of self-reflection helps you obtain the information you’ll get from direct experience.
- This is because we’re not one self, but many selves.
In identity transition, it is normal to spend some time lingering between identities, oscillating between the current and new jobs, or between old and outdated roles and future possible selves.
Our past working identities are difficult to get rid of because we need to let go of our beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and outside pressures that have been guiding us up to this point.
- Work is an integral part of our identity. Reinventing ourselves is not only about deciding what type of work we want to do but also what kind of person we want to be (which includes what types of sacrifices we are willing to make).
- The key is redefining outdated premises that serve as decision rules that govern our professional lives.
In Western society, it is common to think that our true identity is deep within ourselves and that only introspective analyses can lead us in the right direction. While Ibarra is not arguing that we should skip these analyses altogether, she does argue that this type of reflection is better suited for later when we have some momentum and experiences that serve as data.
During identity transition, the only way someone can change is to put their identities to the test by engineering experiences that will guide future decisive steps.

Chapter 2: Possible Selves

Ibarra argues that spending too much time on reflective analysis at the beginning of the process is counterproductive, and she provides two types of models that can guide how we rework our identities.

Planning and Implementing

This model focuses on introspective analyses and self-assessments that help us identify our skills, strengths, areas of interest, personality, values, and what’s important to us.
We focus on understanding what we don’t like about our current career or job and, equipped with that knowledge, propose a series of logical steps.
We research career fields, develop a list of ideas, and then go into the market for a reality check.
Then, we go back and define the strategy to get those jobs.
Ibarra argues that there are better approaches to reinventing oneself than this model because it is based on a flawed premise: that from analysis, the answer emerges. We reflect, and then we act.
The problem is that this approach must consider an essential reinvention aspect. We learn in iterative, multilayered ways that discovering new alternatives continually shapes our working identity.

Testing and Learning

This model’s main premise is that the information we need to make a change can only be acquired within the process of making such a change; that is, putting ourselves out there and giving opportunities a try.
Once we start trying options, new ideas emerge, and pieces of information that inform us about what we actually like and enjoy surface.
The previous model does not work because it presupposes an existing fully formed self that gets exchanged for a new and improved version of ourselves. This model assumes that no pre-existing entity is waiting to be discovered and recognizes that a person and their environment shape each other in ways that can produce possibilities that did not exist at the start.
The first step to reinventing ourselves is reframing the fundamental questions regarding our identity. Instead of asking, “Who am I?” we should ask, “Among the many possible selves that I might become, which is the most intriguing and easiest to test?”
The key is understanding that identity is not static.
- A belief that we have a true self within us can mislead us into thinking that the bulk of the work is upfront and diagnostic, and that implementation is easy.
- The reality is that we are not one true self but many selves and that those identities exist in the past, present, and future.
After reframing your question, list all your possible working identities. And select your favorite. That’s the one you’ll test out first.
- Note that your list may start with “the reasonable option.” Focus on your favorite option to bring those possible selves into the world.
- Once the list is done, you need to move quickly to bring one of the items on the list into real life.

Chapter 3: Between Identities

The reinventing process is emotionally challenging. It’s hard to let go of a career in which we have invested time, training, and hard work. Letting go is even more difficult when looking ahead is still fuzzy. Yet, we should move forward, even if we lack a clearly defined destination.
Because, at this point, you’re gathering information and building new relationships, you can look at this period as having a tentative identity – many different selves are still possible, but none are apparent.
As we begin exploring alternatives, we must also start to disconnect socially and psychologically from our past identities. This involves a slow and gradual shift of our reference groups.
Before we get into our new beginning, we need to spend some time in the in-between stage of the process. We have to create those possibilities that might place what is being lost and find ways of evaluating alternatives.
- Oscillating between different possibilities allows us time to come to new and different ways of integrating who we were, who we are, and who we are becoming.
- When this self-exploration and self-testing process ends prematurely, we risk letting go of the past too rapidly or holding on to it too rigidly. In both cases, we will lose opportunities along the way.
To transform those possibilities into experiments, we need to try out new things, make new connections, and retell our stories. This reinvention practice grounds us in direct experience, preventing the change process from remaining abstract.
Another reason being in between selves is difficult is that we’re juggling many things.
- It’s common for people to still work full-time at demanding jobs while beginning to experiment outside. If that is your situation, the time will come when you’ll have to reduce variety, discard some possibilities, and select an option.
A working identity is not just who we are. It is also who we are not.

Chapter 4: Deep Change

In the reinventing process, we make two kinds of changes: minor adjustments and significant perspective shifts.
- At first, we’ll make superficial changes. But then small choices accumulate, and we’ll face harder-to-change frameworks of ingrained habits, assumptions, and priorities. After a while, our old frames, beliefs, and attitudes collapse under the weight of the new data we collect.
While this process can be slow, a more grounded redefinition of our working identity will emerge if we conduct this process properly. If we interrupt our reinvention prematurely, we jeopardize our ability to internalize this new self-definition fully.
Social scientists argue that embracing the small-wins strategy – making quick, opportunistic, tangible, moderate changes toward a desired outcome – is often the most effective way to solve problems.
- If we focus on a problem that’s too big and serious, we end up feeling frustrated and helpless, and we become paralyzed.
- Shifting our identities is a big and serious problem. But we need to take it step by step and record every small win.
Only experience will reveal if we have actual barriers to change.
- No matter how much reflection we do, there will be barriers that we’re not aware of that we might face when we start our career transition. That’s why it’s better to experiment before you’ve made any final decisions.
A common mistake is that people allow too much of their identity to be made up of their job and role. Because they are holding too tight to pre-conceived notions or invisible observers, they’re probably meeting the needs of somebody else (e.g., a parent, spouse, or boss), and change becomes even harder.
Ibarra argues that there are three levels of career decision criteria, which she depicts through a pyramid:
Level 1: Job, industry, and sector. At the top of the pyramid lies what is most visible to us and the outside world.
Level 2: Competencies, motives, and values.
Level 3: The basic but implicit assumptions about what is desirable and possible in our lives and the world. At the bottom level, we have the basic assumptions, some of which we might not be aware of, that are like mental maps to guide our decisions.
- Even though our basic assumptions often remain hidden from us, they still determine how we manage our careers.
At this point, we need to target our basic assumptions, as these are the most resistant to change because they concern emotional relationships (whether with people, institutions, or ideas of success).
- It’s even harder to make an identity shift if we don’t change these preconceived notions.
Ibarra believes that to become your own person, you need to break free from your “ought self.” This part of your identity is molded by people important in your life (parents, spouse, boss, role model, or the hiring institution).
Learning happens in cycles, and it can take time to discover what we truly want to change. Transformation happens less by careful strategy and more by ongoing practices that enhance our capacity to change and to understand what’s out there.

Part II

Chapter 5: Crafting Experiments

The biggest mistake people make when trying to change careers is delaying the first step until they have settled on a destination. As Ibarra argues throughout the book, we learn about ourselves by testing concrete possibilities. And very few of us change careers in one day, as most of us have to build a new working identity.
You can start off with side projects, extracurricular ventures, and volunteering activities. These are experiments.
Ibarra recommends crafting experiments under the scope of implementing the small probes and projects that allow us to try out new professional roles without committing. The goal is to confirm or disconfirm our ideas.
There are three types of experiments:
1. Natural Experiments: Situations that occur naturally, without experimental manipulation, but that allow for a clean and comparative test. These experiments begin giving you an idea of the direction you’re taking.
In this stage, you should look into a broad range of options, as variety allows comparison and, therefore, selection of options.
1. Exploratory Experiments: A probing activity by which we get a feel for things. These experiments succeed when they lead us to tangible hypotheses that we can put to the test.
2. Confirmatory Experiments: Help us learn whether our hypotheses will be supported or refuted.
Early exploration is a small, fast, low-cost investment that allows you to gain insight when you have a lot of possibilities. But with each experiment, your priorities should become clearer and clearer.

Be mindful that variety for its own sake is not enough. If you find yourself in a prolonged exploratory phase, know that this can be a defense mechanism against your fear of change.
You also also need to be careful because simply pursuing variety signals to others that you’re not serious about making the changes you want.
The process of crafting experiments is a two-part method. First, you choose a couple of activities to get started. And then, you make sure you have a way to evaluate the results.
Side Projects: Many people start a new career unintentionally by developing new areas of expertise on the side while still working full-time in their current jobs.
Temporary Assignments: For many people, this exploration phase is about networking, applying for jobs, looking at postings, and talking to headhunters.
- You can use temporary assignments, outside contracts, advisory work, and moonlighting to gain experience and build new industry skills.
Going Back to School: Taking courses, obtaining a master’s degree, training, or getting certification is also an effective way of experimenting.
We all have blind spots and personal biases. Many of us fear that those blind spots might lead us to bad choices. To counter our natural biases, we need to balance our emotions with our intellect.
- We all have two versions of ourselves: the emotional and the rational. In contexts like these, we often let one overtake the other. When changing careers, it’s usually our rational part that takes over. And, in the name of rationality, we make the wrong choice.
- This is not about being purely emotional but about listening to our emotional information, because it can give us valuable data.
- The hard work of making a career transition includes looking into our emotions and understanding our intuitions so that we can craft additional experiments.

Chapter 6: Shifting Connections

Part of reinventing ourselves entails changing our relationships. Changing careers is not merely a matter of changing the work we do but about shifting connections – finding people who can help us see and grow into our new selves.
- The people who know us best will most likely hinder the process rather than help because they tend to reinforce and often preserve our current identity.
- Our intimates, whether our spouse, best friend, parent, or boss, expect us to remain the same. And some people may even put pressure on us to be consistent. And while sabotage is most likely not their intention, many people struggle with change.
Research shows that most people find their jobs through personal connections. Interestingly, those personal contacts are rarely friends, family, or close associates. Most of these people are individuals with whom we interact occasionally or rarely.
What makes a valuable contact for a job change is not the closeness of your relationship or this person’s power in their position. It is the likelihood that this person knows different people than you do and, therefore, has different information.
Shifting connections entails looking for new peer groups, guiding figures, and communities.
1. Peer Groups: People experiencing similar doubts about old paths or already doing something new but understanding what you’re going through. What matters psychologically is that they comprehend the characteristics that are defining you now that once defined them.
2. Guiding Figures: People who encourage us and from whom we learn new ways to live and work. They help us endure ambiguity and reassure us that we’re not out of our minds.
3. Communities of Practice: A group offering social participation – crucial for learning. Only by becoming an active participant can we construct our new identities in relation to the group’s members. These communities offer inclusion, provide a base, and help to replace the community we will inevitably lose.
Reinventing oneself is becoming an insider into a new world, learning its objectives, viewpoints, language, and demeanor, and we first need to become an apprentice in that.
Remember that when you make a career change, you’re breaking attachments that no longer serve you while building new connections that support you through that transition.

Chapter 7: Making Sense

In this context, making sense refers to framing your experience. It’s about reinterpreting the past and interpreting the present, creating stories that link these two interpretations together.
Alert intermissions are moments when key specific events become the point of radical change. They test and shape our possible selves, making us aware of barriers and forcing us to choose one self over another.
Despite the importance of these intermissions, they are not what drives career transitions to fruition. To do that, we need a compelling story.
The practice of making sense consists of three parts:

Taking advantage of the events that caused us to reconsider ourselves. You need to select defining moments to redefine your important events into a coherent story. These moments make it clear that there is no turning back.
1. Unfreezing Events: These usually happen early in the transition process, and they get us unstuck through the realization that we’re becoming a feared possible self.
  1. Our early doubts about our current career may seem too vague and nonspecific to justify action. But after a defining event, we have concrete evidence of a problem (e.g., getting laid off, receiving a bad performance review, etc.).
  2. Unfreezing events are events where we learn about ourselves by examining what we do when our hands are forced.
2. Jelling Events: These are palpable moments when things all make sense and fall into place. A new option materializes, facts and intuitions come together, and we feel ready to take the opportunity.
  1. These types of events occur later in the transition process.
3. Stepping back periodically to allow insight to solidify. Often, we become so immersed in a problem that we cannot resolve it until we take a step back. A famous French phrase talks about, “stepping back to better leap forward,” which expresses the sentiment of stepping back to obtain illumination.
  1. Stepping Back: It is hard to be objective when questioning and changing our daily routines if we’re still actively immersed in them. Timeouts help people make changes by providing space for reflective observation.
  2. Windows of Opportunity: MIT researchers found that managers have a discrete time period in which to effect a real change after introducing a new technology. Similarly, you’ll realize that you’ll have windows of opportunity to make a decision on your future identity. What we do immediately after a timeout determines if we can make any real changes.
4. Using both the events and our interpretations of them to work and rework our story. You can start creating stories once you’ve gathered all this data (the experiences described above).
  1. However, it is important to note that our stories never reflect objective reality. Revising a story of ourselves and our career journeys is a fundamental tool for reinventing ourselves.
  2. One problem we must work out during a career transition is deciding on the story linking our old self to our new self. The story must explain why you reinvent yourself, who you’re becoming, and how you’ll get there.
  3. Once you have your story, it will be easier to get other people’s help, as it will be easier for you to explain yourself and your transition. Doing so clarifies our intentions and improves our ability to enlist other people’s support.

Part III

Chapter 8: Becoming Yourself

The common idea of “knowing yourself” shouldn’t be the beginning of our career transition because we are constantly growing and changing. “Knowing yourself” is not your North Star, but your prize at the end of the transition process.
We learn by doing, which means gathering experiences to answer our questions.
Change takes time because we’re testing possibilities, and that takes a few iterations. The goal is to ask better questions, craft better experiments, and test better hypotheses.
It’s a good idea to spend time testing and exploring all our possible selves, even those that seem less promising. We need time to internalize the self-knowledge we are accumulating with each experience fully.
Working on our identities is not an exercise in abstraction or introspection. It is trial and error and a process of learning by doing.
While there is no specific process for making a career change, this book uncovers important guidelines. Ibarra calls these “Unconventional Strategies.”
1. Act your way into a new way of thinking and being. You cannot discover yourself by introspection.
2. Stop trying to find your one true self. Focus on which of your many possible selves you want to test and learn more about.
3. Allow yourself to experience a transition period. It’s okay to oscillate between your old self and your new self for a period of time.
4. Resist the temptation to make a big decision that will change everything in the beginning. Focus on small wins – incremental gains that lead you to change basic assumptions that define your work and life.
5. Identify projects to help you get a feel for a new line of work. Consider extracurricular activities or parallel paths so that you can experiment for real without committing.
6. Find people who are what you want to be and who can provide support for the transition. Expect these people to be in different social circles.
7. Avoid waiting for a cataclysmic moment where the truth is revealed. Use everyday episodes to find meaning in what you’re going through. Practice telling and retelling your story; it will clarify the transition process over time.
8. Take a step back, but only for a short time. Just take the time to reflect on how and why you are changing.
9. Understand that change happens in bursts and starts. There are times when you are open to big change and times when you’re not. Seize the opportunity when it arises.