The big idea: You are rarely out of options: sort the problem first, then use a fast mind map from your own best moments to create many ideas before you judge any of them.
In 60 seconds
- Feeling stuck usually means too few ideas or the wrong kind of problem.
- Sort out gravity and anchor problems before you try to solve anything.
- Mind map from your own best moments to create many options before you judge any of them.
Do this: complete the Getting Unstuck and Mind Mapping pages and bring one concept you are curious about.
How to get unstuck
Feeling stuck about your future is normal, and it is usually a sign that you are working with too few ideas or the wrong kind of problem. Burnett and Evans offer two moves: sort the problem first, then generate many options fast with a mind map that starts from your own Good Time Journal.
Gravity problem
- Not actionable. A circumstance you cannot change, like how a field pays or how long a license takes.
- Fighting it wastes energy. Arguing with gravity does not lower it.
- Your move: accept it, then design around it or reframe it into a piece you can act on.
Anchor problem
- Stuck on one solution. You keep pushing the same fix, and the fix has become the problem.
- It feels like you have no options. You do; you have stopped looking.
- Your move: reframe the need, generate new options and try a small prototype step instead of a bigger push.
Gravity and anchor problems connect to the Four Types of Problems (gravity, anchor, technical, adaptive) from IB 407. See Frame the Challenge for the full framework.
Mind mapping in three rings
Pick a center
Choose a word or short phrase from a Good Time Journal moment that engaged or energized you, like “tutoring” or “building the model.”
Rule: start from your own evidence.
Ring 1
Write the first five or so words that come to mind. Do not judge them.
Rule: fast and short.
Rings 2 and 3
Branch off each word with what it makes you think of. Keep going outward. The third ring should feel odd and far from the center.
Rule: quantity first, no editing.
Combine three
Pick three words from the outer rings that jump out, and force them into one life or job concept. Give it a title.
Rule: it is a sketch, not a decision.
Why the outer rings matter
The inner ring holds what you already know. The outer rings hold words your brain reached by association, which is where new combinations come from. Combining unrelated words forces a new idea.
Why start from your journal
A map that starts from a real moment of engagement keeps ideas tied to what gives you energy, not what sounds impressive. Try a few maps from different journal moments.
Telling gravity from anchorTwo quick questions
- Could you act on this in the next month? If no, it is likely gravity. Accept it and design around it. If you truly want to fight it, know the cost and the odds.
- Have you tried the same fix again and again? If yes, it is likely an anchor. Name the fix you are stuck on, set it aside and ask what need it was meant to meet.
For example, “Accounting firms only hire people who interned with them” may be partly gravity (you cannot change a firm’s policy) and partly an anchor (“so I can only apply to audit internships”). Reframe: “What other paths lead to work I care about, and who could I talk to this month?”
From mind map to concept sketchTurning three words into an idea you can test
- Use all three words. The odd one is where the new idea comes from. “Rural towns + tax season + storytelling” became “Tax-season teacher for rural small businesses.”
- Write one or two sentences: who you would work with and what you would actually do.
- Make more than one. Shuffle again and sketch two or three concepts before picking a favorite.
- Do not judge yet. Concepts feed your Odyssey Plans, especially the wild card plan. Testing comes later through prototype conversations.
Getting unstuck as a team habitThe same moves work in consulting
Clients get stuck the same way people do. A team that keeps proposing the same software fix has an anchor problem. A budget cap set by the board may be gravity. The moves you practice here on your own life (sort the problem, generate many options, prototype small) are the same ones you use with a BUAD 497 client. See also Ideation That Goes Somewhere from IB 407.
Ideas from Designing Your Life and The Designing Your Life Workbook by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans (Stanford Life Design Lab), explained here in our own words. BUAD 427 is taught by Lane Morris, PhD.
Try it: Mind Map Starter
Tool · BUAD 427
Mind Map Starter
Grow three rings of quick associations from one Good Time Journal moment, then force three far-out words into a new life idea.
- 1Map
- 2Combine
- 3Sketch
Optional: stuck check (anchor or gravity?)
Concept sketch
All checks
Saved on this device only. My own answers stay in this browser and are never sent anywhere. Example edits are not saved.
Put it to work: your workbook mind maps
The Getting Unstuck and Mind Mapping pages in The Designing Your Life Workbook are pre-class assignments, graded pass/fail with the rest of the workbook. Come to class with your maps done and at least one concept you are curious about.
Sort one stuck point
Name something that feels stuck about your future. Use the stuck check in the tool: gravity, anchor or workable?
Your deliverable: one sentence that names the problem type and your next move.
Pick your centers
Reread your Good Time Journal and choose moments that engaged or energized you, or felt like flow. Each one can be the center of a map.
Your deliverable: one or more center words from real journal moments.
Map fast
Fill three rings in a few minutes per map. Write in the workbook by hand; use the Mind Map Starter if you want a second try.
Your deliverable: completed mind maps in your workbook.
Sketch concepts
Combine three outer-ring words into a titled concept with one or two sentences. Make at least two.
Your deliverable: two or more concept sketches with titles.
Bring one to class
Pick the concept that surprised you most. Be ready to say which journal moment it came from.
Your deliverable: one concept to share and one question it raises.
Where your concepts go nextOdyssey Plans and prototypes
- Odyssey Plans: your strongest concept is often a good wild card plan.
- Prototype conversations: find someone already living a version of your concept and ask how they got there.
- Private journal: note which concept you keep thinking about a week later. That pull is data.
Do this, not thatHabits that make mind maps work
Do this
- Start from a real journal moment.
- Go fast and keep words short.
- Push the third ring into odd territory.
- Force all three words into the concept.
- Make several concepts before picking one.
Not that
- Starting from a job title you think you should want.
- Writing sentences instead of words.
- Editing as you go.
- Picking only safe, inner-ring words.
- Treating a concept as a decision.
Before classCheck your maps
- [ ] Workbook Getting Unstuck and Mind Mapping pages are complete.
- [ ] Each map starts from a Good Time Journal moment.
- [ ] Each map has three rings, with the outer ring full of short, surprising words.
- [ ] You have at least two concept sketches with titles.
- [ ] You can name one problem as gravity, anchor or workable and say your next move.
Go deeper
Back to all BUAD 427 topics · Next: Design Your Lives: Odyssey Plans
Part of BUAD 427 Designing Your Life and Career, taught by Lane Morris, PhD, in the Smith GLS human-centered leadership program, toward the Human Centered Consulting Certificate.
Frequently asked questions
What is a gravity problem in Designing Your Life?
In Designing Your Life, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans describe a gravity problem as a circumstance you cannot act on, like gravity itself. Fighting it wastes energy. The design move is to accept it as a fact and design around it, or reframe it into a smaller piece that you can actually act on.
What is an anchor problem?
An anchor problem happens when you get stuck on one solution and keep pushing it even though it is not working. The fix itself has become the problem. To get unstuck, name the solution you are anchored to, set it aside, reframe the underlying need, generate new options and try a small prototype step instead of pushing harder.
How do you make a mind map for career ideas?
Put a word from a moment that engaged or energized you in the center. Write the first five or so associations around it, then branch outward into a second and third ring, going fast and keeping words short. Pick three words from the outer rings, force them into one life or job concept and give it a title.
Why combine words from the outer rings of a mind map?
Inner-ring words stay close to what you already know. Outer-ring words come from chains of association, so combining them forces connections you would not make on purpose. That is how a mind map produces new options instead of the same few ideas you were already stuck on. Treat each concept as a sketch to test.
What should I do with ideas from my mind map?
Write two or more short concept sketches, each with a title and one or two sentences. Do not judge them yet. Use the strongest as a wild card Odyssey Plan, then test it by talking with someone already living a version of it. Notice which concept you keep thinking about a week later.