
Are you an Architect in an Engineers job? A manager in an
Architects job? An Engineer in an Architects job. An Engineer in a Managers
job?
While others may decide or confer titles on you, we suggest
you look into yourself, your soul, and decide first and foremost who the real
you is, and then make any changes necessary, so that the real you shines
through.
Here we discuss a diagram from a book called “The Japanese
Secret to a Long and Happy Life” by Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia. Like
most models, it is a powerful aid to thinking about yourself (and others) and
can help you decide if you are in the right job, or if you are doing the right
things for the right reasons.
It considers that there are 4 main areas:
¨
What you LOVE - This equates to
what you like to do. What gets you out of bed in the morning. What you would
choose to do if there were no other restrictions.
¨
What you are GOOD AT - This
equates to what you are good at. There will be some things you are good at, and
like doing, There will be other things you are good at, that you do not like
doing.
¨
What OTHERS NEED - This was
originally titled “What the world needs” but the word “world” puts a domain
constraint on the question that need not be there. To one person “the world”
may literally be the world. To others “the world” may mean their family, or the
company they work for. As we have learned before “Context is King”™ and
therefore you need to place the context you wish on the model to be able to
answer its questions.
¨
What you can GET PAID FOR – This
equates to getting something of value that you can exchange for other things
you need, aka money.
Since you are in control of the context, it allows you to
utilise the model in different contexts. For example, one to represent your
home life where “the world” is your family and “what you can get paid for” is
the respect of your family (and the “payment” of your family achieving their
Ikigai) and another to represent your working life where the company you work
for is “the world” and the “payment” is your salary.
Where these primary domains overlap is where happiness (and
sadness) lies.
At the intersection of what you are good at, and what you
need lies your PROFESSION.
At the intersection of what you are good at, and what you
love, lies your PASSION.
At the intersection of what others need, and what you need
lies your VOCATION.
And, at the intersection of what others need, and what you
love, lies your MISSION.
The other intersections illustrate areas of partial Ikigai
where three of the four aspects are fulfilled but one is not.
¨
Satisfying what you love, what you are good at, and what you
need, leaves a feeling of USELESSNESS, because
you are not doing what OTHERS NEED.
¨
Satisfying what others need, what you love, and what you are good
at, means you have NO WEALTH, because you are not doing what you can GET PAID FOR.
¨
Satisfying what you need, what others need, and what you love,
leaves you with a sense of UNCERTAINTY, because
you are not doing what you are GOOD AT.
¨
And, satisfying what you are good at, what you need, and what
others need, leaves you with a feeling of EMPTINESS,
because you are not doing what you LOVE.
Ikigai, is that perfect balance where you balance what you
need, with what others need, with what you are good at, with what you love.
It would be nice if people can truly achieve Ikigai, but for
the most part, many of us do not. From my professional life context (at this
point in time – because things always change) I would say that I exist in the “Delight
& fulfilment but no WEALTH. That is:
¨
I am doing what I truly love to do (maturing the Transformation
domain of Enterprises).
¨
I (believe) am good at it.
¨
I (believe) I am supplying what others need – others being
Enterprises all over the world (even though they may not realise they need it)
¨
So, I feel delight and fulfilment, but have no wealth. For me
this is fine, because I place a much higher value on doing things I enjoy, that
I am good at, and that help others, than any monetary gain. Money is not what
gets me out of bed in the morning. The other three together do.