Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means "reason for being".
Last post I reflected on the findings of Positive Psychology and what it thinks are the different forms of happiness. In that reflection my perception of happiness changed in three stages, akin to Lewin's Model of Change: unfreezing, transition, and refreezing. Through the findings of Positive Psychology on how Pleasure is fleeting, affected by things one cannot control (externalities, genetics), and vulnerable to the Hedonic Treadmill, we unfreezed the old notion that happiness is only about pleasure. We discussed the two other forms of happiness - flow and meaning, and transitioned our paradigm of happiness to that of the more sustainable and deeper sense of happiness suggested by science. Note - the previous post was not a philosophical meditation, it was a retelling of the foundations of one of the most influential fields of science affecting our experience as beings. We refreezed the paradigm change by ending with a comic that succinctly illustrated our journey:
Some say Psychology is the study of being. Some say it's Philosophy. I say, being itself is the study of being. Existence is just one whole study of finding our way through the darkness, looking for reasons, looking for answers - why are we here? What are we made to do? Why do we exist?
The venn diagram illustrates the beauty and depth of the Ikigai. I believe the rightmost circle is the most important because it is the most difficult to do - too many of us stop with the left three. Be wary about finding such work - you will be satisfied, but you will have a nagging feeling our existence can be used for something more. Our predicament as beings in this world is that we exist, but we do not know why, and so we yearn for finding a why that satisfies us deeply enough. If we are only to satisfy the three left circles, the world's needs will gnaw at us and will render us restless until we find a way to satisfy our thirst for deeper meaning - which means, as explored in the previous post - deeper happiness.
How lucky must she be, the person in the comic, for she seems happy. On my next post I about-face and say - maybe not so. MagisSolutions started similar to the woman in the comic - volunteers giving away free web sites to NGOs. We loved it, we were good at it, the NGOs needed it - but we were not being paid. It is in this current iteration that MagisSolutions seems to have found its Ikigai - discounted services to cause-oriented organizations, with market-price services given to profit-oriented companies to help fund the discounts we give.
In MagisSolutions, we have the unique opportunity to experience Ikigai. To do what we are passionate about - whether it be back-end programming, front-end programming, web designing, marketing, UI/UX, whatever it may be. We can do what we love, we can get better at it, we can get paid doing it, but most importantly, and this is something we offer uniquely - we can seek out those who serve the needy, and do what we can with our skills.
The Ikigai of the company is "Software for a Better World." No matter what that may look like at what ever time, as long as it exists, that is what MagisSolutions stands for. I was asked earlier whether I wanted to get bigger - what my plans are for the company, how many people do you think Magis should grow to. I responded unequivocally 5,000 people. Now, I think that was too small. 50,000 people doesn't excite me enough either. A billion people. That is my target. I do not care how many people work for the company, what I care about more is how many lives our software touches. I read a book named "Built to Last," and its thesis statement can be summarized as so: the companies who last beyond the lives of their founders are the companies whose vision outlive them. Vision, in their context, can be translated to Ikigai. A company that finds its Ikigai will live forever. Nothing lasts forever, of course, not even us. My forever is for as long as I live - I hope, and pray, that our company will outlast us, will continue to operate when we are all six feet under. I believe this is only possible if our company is a company where people can practice their Ikigai. As long as you are here, we will work together to make MagisSolutions a place where you realize, enjoy, and pursue yours.
Because what happiness can we reach, if our work is our Ikigai.