“We learn who we are in practice, not in theory.”
Herminia Ibarra developed this idea in Working Identity, her research on how people navigate career change. Conventional advice often begins with introspection: discover the true self, then select the work that expresses it. Ibarra found that major transitions usually move in the opposite direction. People try possible roles, build new relationships, tell and revise stories about themselves, and learn from the experience. Identity is not a fixed answer waiting to be uncovered before action. It is partly constructed through experiments that reveal what feels credible, energizing, and sustainable in the real world.
The practical implication is to replace one irreversible leap with several low-cost tests. A person can take a project, shadow a role, volunteer in a new field, teach a subject, or work with a different community. These actions produce evidence that imagination alone cannot. Organizations can support the process through internal gigs, rotations, mentoring, and temporary assignments. Managers should ask what an employee wants to test next, not demand a permanent five-year identity. A portfolio of experiences lets direction emerge while preserving income, relationships, and room to reconsider.
Experimentation should not be romanticized. Access to networks, spare time, and financial safety is uneven, and repeated temporary work can shift risk onto the individual. Some professions require credentials and careful preparation before practice. Ibarra’s principle does not eliminate reflection; action and interpretation work together. People need pauses to notice patterns and trusted others who can challenge self-serving conclusions. Organizations should make exploration paid, transparent, and available beyond employees already favored by informal sponsorship.
As AI changes tasks faster than job titles can be rewritten, practice-based identity becomes increasingly relevant. Employees can learn new tools through real problems, compare how the work feels, and discover combinations of domain knowledge and technology that formal role catalogs miss. Leaders can publish short assignments and recognize lateral learning rather than rewarding only upward moves. Ibarra’s sentence offers permission to begin before certainty: a credible next self is often found by doing meaningful work in small enough forms that experience can still change the story. Career systems can make experiments legible by issuing short project passports. Each passport names the capability tested, time commitment, sponsor, learning goal, and evidence the employee can carry into future applications. Managers agree not to block participation merely to retain talent. Over time, the record reveals which experiences help people move and which opportunities circulate within the same network. Exploration becomes an institutional pathway rather than a privilege negotiated privately with an unusually generous boss.
Ibarra developed the idea in Working Identity, her research on people making major career transitions.
She found that experiments, relationships, and revised narratives often precede clarity about a new professional self.
Small real-world tests reveal fit and possibility that introspection alone cannot supply.
Reflection remains essential, and organizations should not shift the cost of exploration onto people with the least financial safety.
AI is changing tasks faster than formal titles and career ladders can respond.
Paid internal projects and lateral learning help employees discover new combinations of capability through responsible practice.
Explore more "Quotes of The Day"
Discover more notable quotes from influential voices across politics, science, business, technology, sports, and culture. Each quote offers insight into how ideas, beliefs, and decisions shape the world around us.