Why we still need theory

Theories fill very important gaps in our understanding of ourselves and of others. My general metaphor for the utility of theory is that theory is a pattern of human behaviour; a rule of thumb that we can use as a guide to compare or measure or analyse something against. Further, theory can be thought of as a recipe: that if we begin in W way, then follow X steps with Y ingredients; then we should end up with Z. And, providing we know our theory well, when we don't have all the Y ingredients, we are able to swap some ingredients out, and still end up at Z. Those who don't understand the theory are generally powerless to make change.

Theory is powerful stuff.

I have written previously about what theory is for in general (here); but I haven't really written about our potential uses for career theory. Being able to work with "theory is important because it enables [us] to understand how to use the tools and manipulate them to make sure they are effective for [...]our clients in [their] context" (Yates, 2022, p. 1). 

In career practice, when working with a particular client, few ways of using theory which I have considered useful are:

• as a metaphor; a frame against which to consider their particular set of circumstances to see if the theory provides insight or inspiration (Inkson et al., 2015)
• as a formal assessment tool; a formal construct against which to measure our client's reactions, values, skills, attributes or knowledge (Osborn & Zunker, 2016)
• as an informal evaluation tool; to compare a number of proposed goals or outcomes against one another, or to see if there are information holes which need to be plugged prior to our client making a decision
• as a prediction tool; an 'if we do this, then we could (reasonably) expect this' model
• as a decision-making framework; to help our client to consider the steps they might take, or the options they might like to consider

How do you use theory? What other ways of working have you encountered?

Sam

References:

Inkson, K., Dries, N., & Arnold, J. (2015). Understanding Careers (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.

Osborn, D. S., & Zunker, V. G. (2016). Using Assessment Results for Career Development (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Yates, J. (2022). The career coaching toolkit (2nd ed.). Routledge.