Ikigai (Pronounced Eee-key-guy) has found its way into business. Ikigai is a Japanese concept comprising two words: iki = life and gai = purpose. In other words, Ikigai means life’s purpose. The key to Ikigai is made up of four primary elements: what you love (your passion), what the world needs (your mission), what you are good at (your vocation), and what you can get paid for (your profession). There are so many ways to use Ikigai (and we highly recommend following the ‘my inner creative’ link below to learn more).

Learning: Ikigai is increasingly making its way into the business world, and though it’s an interesting way to explain multi-layered product goals, we hope it’s short-lived. This one has a spiritual element that feels diluted in the business context.

References and Resources

Setting personal and professional goals using Ikigai from My Inner Creative; Type: Article

How to Ikigai from Tim Tamashiro/TedX YYC; Type: Video

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What are your thoughts on the use of Ikigai in the business context? Have you seen it’s increased usage? We’d love to hear from you.