The Design Is Not the House: Lester’s Story
Career design is about more than getting clear on what you want from work. It's about knowing how to put that clarity into practice. After completing Lucia Knight's Fierce Accelerator programme, Lester understood which Superpowers he wanted to use, which Kryptonite to avoid and what mattered most in his working life. But as he explains, “The design was clear, but a design is not a house. One still has to build it.” In this client story, Lester shares three lessons he's taking forward about using his strengths, making the most of his time and creating the kind of progress that sustains joy at work.
After completing the Fierce Accelerator with Lucia, Lester describes the result very simply:
“After we finished our work, I had such clarity.”
He knew the problems he wanted to tackle, the Kryptonite he wanted to avoid and the Superpowers he wanted to use.
But clarity brought another realisation with it.
“The design was clear, but a design is not a house. One still has to build it.”
That idea runs through the three things Lester says he never wants to forget about his future working life.
Not three rules for everyone else to follow. Three reminders that came from understanding what matters to him — and learning how to keep using that understanding as he builds what comes next.
1. The design is only the first step
For Lester, knowing his Superpowers isn't enough. He wants to deliberately create more opportunities to use them.
One recent experiment showed him what that can look like. He invited two peers to spend 90 minutes experimenting with AI together. They had each encountered motivational hurdles when trying similar things alone. Together, when someone hit a problem, there were two other people there to help.
His conclusion?
“Doing it by yourself versus doing it with two other people is not twice as good. It's probably 20 times as good.”
The sessions became a highlight of his week — and gave him the first reminder he wants to carry forward:
“Remember to build more ways to use your Superpowers.”
Knowing your Superpowers is one part of career design. Knowing your Kryptonite — the work and environments that drain rather than energise you — matters too.
If those ideas are new to you, explore Lucia's thinking on finding your Midlife Superpowers and identifying your career Kryptonite.
2. Having time isn't the same as using it well
Lester's second reminder is about something he values deeply: time.
During their work together, Lucia noticed just how carefully he planned his weeks, goals and time.
But Lester has since made an important distinction:
“An hour spent is completely different than an hour focused.”
He talks about preparing for focused work almost like a cook preparing their mise en place: deciding what he wants to try before the hour begins so he can hit the ground running.
At the same time, he doesn't want structure to become rigid. If something else is occupying his attention, sometimes the better decision is to deal with it before returning to the plan.
His new test is wonderfully Lester:
“Taste the hour… Am I focused and ferocious in this hour on this task?”
The goal isn't simply to have more time. His reminder to himself is to use the time he has in a way that reflects how valuable it is to him.
3. Joy is sustained by progress
The final lesson Lester wants to remember came, in part, from watching how Lucia approaches new ideas.
“I think your go-to mode is to test any new idea with an experiment. Quick.”
Lester's instinct is to think and prepare a little more. But he's realised those approaches don't have to compete.
Sometimes the experiment can simply be smaller.
“I've come to see I can get more joy by taking more frequent tiny steps that make it easier to create momentum. Momentum feels like progress, which sustains joy.”
Which leads to the final note he leaves for his future self:
“Remember to define the next tiniest step.”
Small experiments are also one way to explore possibilities without needing to have your entire future figured out first. If that's where you are, Lucia explores this further in what to do when you don't know what you want to be when you grow up.
And what does work feel like now?
At the end of their conversation, Lucia brings all three lessons together.
When Lester is designing the way forward, experimenting with other people, using his time valuably and taking the next small step to create momentum, she asks:
How does work like that feel?
His answer may be the most powerful part of his story.
“First I'm relaxed.”
His shoulders are down. He's talking about something new he's learned with other people or another way he's used one of his Superpowers.
And:
“I'm smiling in a way that reaches my eyes… because there's been progress to sustain that joy.”
That's the point of the design.
Not for everyone to work like Lester. Not for everyone to value the same things or arrive at the same answers.
As Lucia says, the Fierce model of change that underpins her work “lands very differently for each of us.”
Lester discovered what belongs in his design. And now he has ways to keep building it.
What belongs in yours?
If you're ready to explore that question, discover Lucia's career design programmes and find the right next step for you.
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[00:00:00] “After Our Work, I Had Such Clarity”
Lester- Former Fierce Accelerator Client: After we finished our work, I had such clarity. I knew all the key elements. The design was clear, but a design is not a house. one still has to build it.
Lucia Knight - Midlife Career Design Coach: Hi, I'm Lucia Knight and this is the Joy At Work podcast. Today I'm joined by one of my former clients, someone who, like so many of us, had a moment of "Wait! Is this what work is supposed to feel like?" And instead of brushing it off and cracking on, they paused and they chose to design their work life differently.
I've asked each guest to share the three most important insights they learned about their future work life that they never ever want to forget. And these aren't just liked reflections. They're the result of three, six, or 12 months of deep work together, and now they're in a position to capture those timeless notes to their future selves.
Let's dive in.
So Lester, I am dying to know what is the first thing about your future work life that you never ever want to forget?
[00:01:13] Clarity Is the Beginning — Then You Build
Lester- Former Fierce Accelerator Client: Design is just the first step and I still need to build it. After we finished our work, I had such clarity. I knew all the key elements, which problems to tackle, which kryptonite to avoid and which superpowers to use, for example by helping others, by using wisdom gain from asking or reading or experimenting. The design was clear, but a design is not a house. one still has to build it.
I recently asked two peers to vibe code together and see what AI could really do for us. It took some convincing, to get 'em to carve out 90 minutes out of their busy schedules. We even postponed the first session once or twice because inevitably something came up. But we got far enough in the first one that then they were willing to do a second, then they were hooked because we were answering questions that we used to wait a week for the data science team to handle for us, and this group learning and experimentation. It just became like a highlight of my week.
Future self. Remember to build more ways to use your superpowers.
Lucia Knight - Midlife Career Design Coach: Brilliant. Brilliant. I love that. And I love that you brought people on the experimentation journey with you. That's very Lester.
Lester- Former Fierce Accelerator Client: We all reflected afterwards that it was such a difference because we had individually been trying and we could not get past a bit of a motivational hurdle, right? We would run into some problem and then we give up. But together, because in the moment, like the second you ran into a problem, you had other people right there on the spot, I'm gonna help you with this right now.
And afterwards we all realised it's not the same. Doing it by yourself versus doing it with two other people is not twice as good. It's probably 20 times as good. Yeah.
Lucia Knight - Midlife Career Design Coach: Wow. Okay. Brilliant. I could ask you so much about that, but I'm gonna try and keep our conversation focused. Okay, so what is the second message you'd like to give to your future self that you never want to forget about your work life?
[00:03:14] Learning to Use Your Time Differently
Lester- Former Fierce Accelerator Client: Stealing a phrase from one of your other guests. Time abundance is also a first step. I still need to use the time ferociously. As my wife says,
Lucia Knight - Midlife Career Design Coach: Tell me more.
Lester- Former Fierce Accelerator Client: Comment on this early on in our work you observed how precious time was to me and just how carefully I plan each week, what goals to focus on, how much time to spend on each goal, and even when in the week to spend that time.
This worked better some weeks than others, and I have learned that an hour spent is completely different than an hour focused.
It's like the cooking show say, you have to prepare your Mise en Place before you cook. So before that hour comes, I need to prepare the first approach that I'm going to try to make progress.
It may not work out. That's why I say the first approach, but at least when that hour comes, I'm ready to hit the ground running.
More importantly, I need to bring a hunger for that goal In that moment, lets say another time critical issue has come up, there's some customer disaster. It really matters.
I'm actually better off changing that original plan, fully dealing with the other issue, and then coming back later when I'm focused and ferocious. Now to remind myself of this, I've programmed my calendar. So every two weeks it shows me this quote from author Danny Shapiro. "So much can be accomplished in one focused hour, especially when that hour is part of a routine."
Lucia Knight - Midlife Career Design Coach: Yeah, it's it's very you, so you are one of the most deliberate people about how you invest your time so that you don't spend it easily in the top one or two people I've ever come across who do that. But even still, you want to remind your future self that spending time is not the same as investing it and planning and knowing what you're gonna do, and then also having this dynamism if that's, if something else more important comes along, just move it out of the way.
Lester- Former Fierce Accelerator Client: Yeah, other people talk about the framework of like, know your peak energy levels and schedule your work for that time. A potentially flawed assumption is your peak energy levels are constant from day to day, right?
So I think in the same way, am I focused and ferocious in this hour on this task? If not I really, truly am better off just dealing with the other thing or whatever it takes to get that outta my mind.
Lucia Knight - Midlife Career Design Coach: Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Excellent. I love that distinction. Okay, and what is the very final, I'm sure there are more, but I've asked you to think about your top three. So what is the third thing that you always want to remember for the rest of your work life?
[00:05:59] Tiny Steps Create Momentum — and Joy
Lester- Former Fierce Accelerator Client: Joy is sustained by progress. And this is from you. I think your go-to mode is to test any i new idea with an experiment quick. While I like to think it out a bit more, like I just told you about preparing the mise en place , I've realised that choosing between the two is a false choice.
The mise en place doesn't always have to be for an eight course tasting menu. It can be for an omelette with scallions, which I made for my wife over the weekend. I've come to see I can get more joy by taking more frequent tiny steps than make it easier to create momentum. Momentum feels like progress, which sustains joy.
So future self. Remember to define the next tiniest step. Get it done in this focused and ferocious hour, and keep on building that life you designed with the in incomparable Lucia Knight.
Lucia Knight - Midlife Career Design Coach: One more question.
Lester- Former Fierce Accelerator Client: Yes.
[00:07:00] So, What Does Work Feel Like Now?
Lucia Knight - Midlife Career Design Coach: So I just wanted to get your reaction. So when you do exactly as you've just said. Yes. So designing the way forward. And then experimenting with people where possible, when you've used this time so valuably and that you've moved fast to create the next first step to get that momentum.
How does work like that feel for you?
Lester- Former Fierce Accelerator Client: First I'm relaxed, where you can see by looking at my shoulders, they're down and not my near my ears like the Bangles or any other eighties band. I'm also telling you about something new that I've learned with others or how I've used one of my other superpowers. And I'm smiling in a way that reaches my eyes like they're now, because there's been progress to sustain that joy.
Lucia Knight - Midlife Career Design Coach: Lester is proof that the work that I do together with any client is based firmly on the fierce model of change, which came from my original research. It lands very differently for each of us.
Lester and I, for instance, share a core value of using our precious time on this earth valuably. But boy do we do it differently. Lester and I work together on the Fierce Accelerator programme, a mix of the Fierce Emporium career redesign programme with added one-to-one design time with me.
Check out the episode notes for more details to find the right next step for you.
