When each option wins depending on the day
A short guide to choosing what you'll compare your options against, before you compare them.
Part of the Proa Nova free library: short guides for when something in your working life is changing, or asking to change.
Without criteria, the option you saw last tends to win.
For when you're choosing between two or three paths (staying and asking for changes, moving to another team, starting something of your own) and every time you compare them you lean a different way, depending on what you read or how you felt that day.
Several real options, and none that stands out.
Choosing by whatever you read last, or by whatever made the most noise.
A table with three questions, a simple comparison, and a list of what you still don't know.
1. Look back
Write down three conditions from your previous situation that you don't want to repeat. Be specific: the hours, how people treated you, who decided and how, who you depended on, what was expected of you without anyone saying so.
2. Pick three questions
From this list, choose the three that matter most to you today. These are your criteria.
- Does it leave me with energy?
- Can I sustain it?
- Will I learn something?
- Will the money work?
- Do I decide how I do it?
- Does it serve something I care about?
- Will I feel part of something?
- Does the pace fit me?
- Who would I be working with?
Three, not five. If a question is missing from the list, add it, but keep it at three.
3. Put them in order
If you could keep only one, which would it be? That's the one that weighs most.
4. Fill in the table
One row per option, one column per question. In each cell, one of three answers: yes, partly, or no, plus a short phrase saying why.
An invented example, to see how it looks:
| Does it leave me with energy? | Will the money work? | Do I decide how I do it? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stay and ask for changes | Partly: I like the team, the work wears me out | Yes: same salary | No: my manager decides |
| Move to another team | Yes: it interests me | Partly: a small drop at first | Partly: depends on the team |
| Start something of my own | Yes: it excites me | No: I don't know how long until it pays | Yes: it's up to me |
In this example, no row wins on everything. But something shows up that wasn't visible before: if what matters most to this person is money, the third option waits for later, and the second stays open to a trial run.
5. Look at what you couldn't answer
Whatever's still "I don't know" isn't a failure of the comparison. It's what to test next. A small trial run settles it better than another hour of doubting, and "A 30-minute trial run before you decide" explains how.
Setting an option aside isn't dropping it. For each one, write two things:
That way it stays on hold, with a date.
| Question 1: ______ | Question 2: ______ | Question 3: ______ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Option A: ______ | |||
| Option B: ______ | |||
| Option C: ______ |
If the question is still alive, take the Quick Map.
If the question is still alive after you've set your criteria, the Quick Map gives you a first, personal read on where you are.
It's free, it's four questions, and it doesn't decide for you or put a label on you.
Quick Map: /en/career-transition/quick-map