The Misalignment Behind So Many Career Struggles (Part 3)
Career Ecology Framework: how to tell if your work is aligned with what you actually need right now.
Welcome to Part 3 of the Career Ecology Framework.
Part 1 of this series covered my career burnout journey despite working in well-led organizations. Then, I proposed a shift from a linear career narrative toward an ecological model inspired by natural cycles.
Part 2 of this series introduced a method to identify your work season - a way of articulating your current needs from work so you can assess if your environment supports or strains them.
▶︎ ◀︎
I personally have a problematic memory, so let’s recap:
🌿 What is the Career Ecology Framework?
A tool to support more sustainable career decisions by understanding your internal cycles (your seasons) and whether your external environment (your workplace) supports the season you are currently in.
It blends self-awareness + environmental assessment so people stop trying to "fix themselves" and start shaping work that actually fits.
⚙️ How do I use the Framework?
The framework builds on itself:
Identify Your SeasonUnderstand your current needs before making a change. We did this in What Season of Work Are You In?.
Assess Your Environment
Use those needs to evaluate where your current job supports, or strains, you. We’ll do this next! 👇
Cultivate, Prune, or Compost
Pick a seasonally aligned action to see if you can get closer to alignment.
Sow New Seeds
What did you learn? Is your current environment still the right one?
Let’s Assess Your Environment
Now that I’ve triple-checked I haven’t written asses we can dive in. On that note, I’ll let you in on the backend of how I organize the seasons. The top 6 influences on how we feel about work are:
• Autonomy • Growth • Stability
• Collaboration • Capacity • MeaningEvery season comes with different variations. In Spring, you want more growth and autonomy. In Winter, you are looking for stability and rest.
Friction often comes when your season and environment are mismatched. Below, you’ll go through an exercise to identify any points of tension and get more specific. The outcome will look something like “My current job offers autonomy and meaning but lacks stability and belonging.”
⬇️ Skip ahead to the Season you identified
We will use the needs of your season to prioritize what you need from your environment today.
Spring
🌱 “Something is starting.”
Keywords: Experimentation, curiosity, attention, stimulating, false starts
✏️ Assessment Tool: Spring Season <> Environment
Use the prompts below to get more specific and ask: Is this need being met in a way that supports my current season?
You're not being graded, and your responses are private.
1. Growth
2. Autonomy
3. Capacity
4. Meaning
5. Stability
6. Collaboration
7. Review
Where is your work environment meeting your seasonal needs? And, where is it lacking?
Sample output: “I’m getting a lot of growth opportunities, but I don’t have the autonomy to explore them freely.”
Summer
☀️ “I’m in it.”
Keywords: Momentum, expansion, productivity, visibility
✏️ Assessment Tool: Summer Season <> Environment
Use the prompts below to get more specific and ask: Is this need being met in a way that supports my current season?
You're not being graded, and your responses are private.
1. Growth
2. Collaboration
3. Autonomy
4. Meaning
5. Capacity
6. Stability
7. Review
Where is your work environment meeting your seasonal needs? And, where is it lacking?
Sample output: “My current job offers autonomy and meaning but lacks stability and belonging.”
Fall
🍂 “Is this still right?”
Keywords: Evaluation, fatigue, harvesting, boundary-setting
✏️ Assessment Tool: Fall Season <> Environment
Use the prompts below to get more specific and ask: Is this need being met in a way that supports my current season?
You're not being graded, and your responses are private.
1. Meaning
2. Stability
3. Capacity
4. Collaboration
5. Autonomy
6. Growth
7. Review
Where is your work environment meeting your seasonal needs? And, where is it lacking?
Sample output: “There’s stability here, but I’m questioning the meaning behind what I’m producing.”
Winter
❄️ “Let it rest.”
Keywords: Stillness, recovery, integration, composting
✏️ Assessment Tool: Winter Season <> Environment
Use the prompts below to get more specific and ask: Is this need being met in a way that supports my current season?
You're not being graded, and your responses are private.
1. Capacity
2. Stability
3. Meaning
4. Collaboration
5. Autonomy
6. Growth
7. Review
Where is your work environment meeting your seasonal needs? And, where is it lacking?
Sample output: “My job is stable but constantly asks for more capacity than I have right now.”
Next Steps
Phew! You just named where your work is supporting you, and where it might be creating strain. Once you have this strategic clarity, you can stop spinning and make grounded, intentional choices.
In the next post, we’ll do this by moving from reflection to action. I walk you through small, strategic experiments based on your season. Not vague advice like “find your passion,” but real, testable ways to move forward.
Two ways I can help:
1️⃣ DM: Feeling in between seasons or want to ask a question specific to your life and experiences? Send a DM my way.
2️⃣ 1:1 Coaching: Feeling burnt out, interested in exploring a career change, or just plain stuck? I work 1:1 with people to go through Career Ecology Framework together and design work that feels right for your season. Book an intro call here.
💬 Share in the comments
Copy/paste: ‘I’m in a season of ___, but my environment is built for ___.’
What did you learn about your current season or your environment?
Which need felt the most unmet or the most surprisingly supported?
What’s one small thing you might adjust based on what you noticed?
Did you make it through the whole post? 😂
LOVE this so much! I’ve been feeling slower lately and like I need a reset, but work is still charging ahead. Naming this mismatch helped me feel less weird (and 'lazy') about it all. I really appreciated this! thank you!
Love the use of polls here! But more importantly I appreciate the concept of careers as ecosystems with seasons.