IKIGAI Lab is a group of CRI researchers, professionals and students that are creating replicable open-source formats for workshops, learning circles and digital tools.
The core aim of our work is to research and then scale methods that can help individuals and organisations to identify and realize a purpose with a triple bottom line (profit, people, planet), a purpose that nourishes not only themselves, but also others and which contributes to a regeneration of the overall ecosystem (e.g. through contributing to the SDGs, the sustainable development goals).
We choose to work on the topic of purpose, because it allows us to bring people together that share the same purpose/dream.
Imagine how it would feel for a group of 5 people to come together with the same strongly felt purpose…
Now think what they could accomplish together.
There is a famous quote from Nick Benson, that we believe in and that we follow with our actions:
‘You can do almost anything with 5 people’ - Nick Benson
Purpose doesn’t exist in isolation. A strong purpose can turn either way, it can serve the world and despite good intentions, it can also damage the world. (The greatest extinction risk that we are currently facing is ourselves and our actions, which are most often made with good intentions in mind!)
Optimally a strong purpose is surrounded by a balanced life education.
This is why there is a second core aim of the IKIGAI lab:
Imagine a world in which schools introduce another subject, right next to math, history and english, a subject that directly focuses on ‘Life Education’ and in which you gain those abilities that allow you to live a good life, where you learn how to take good care of yourself, others and the world!
When approaching this journey we have three premises:
Let's unpack what 'taking care of yourself, others and the world' means:
Active listening Active listening means listening to others with the purpose of gathering information and engaging with the speaker. Active listeners avoid distracting behaviors while in conversation with others. This can mean putting away or closing laptops or mobile devices while listening, and asking and answering questions when prompted.
Dependability Dependable people can be relied on in any given situation. This can include anything from being punctual to keeping promises.
Empathy “Emotional intelligence” is how well you understand the needs and feelings of others. Empathy and compassion help to create positive, high-functioning environments.
Leadership Leadership is an important interpersonal skill that involves effective decision making. Effective leaders incorporate many other interpersonal skills, like empathy and patience, to make decisions.
Teamwork The ability to work together as a team is extremely valuable in every workplace. Teamwork involves many other interpersonal skills like communication, active listening, flexibility and responsibility.
At the Ikigai Lab we know that we cannot and do not want to do this alone!
Luckily we work at the Interdisciplinary Research Center (CRI) in Paris, in an environment that embraces a religion of radical collaboration & open-source!
We want to invite you into our world, share our purpose and ask you to join us in our'quest to open up the already existing (pedagogical) tools that are needed to make this vision possible and create the ones that don’t yet exist together!
This can be very simple by sharing with us:
Reach out to Pascal.kolbe@cri-paris.org
Or simply by starting to learn how to take better care of yourself:
Please try out one of the tools that we already documented on this website by following one of the buttons below!
Warmly, Your Ikigai Lab