Ikigai, a Systemic Discovery

This is a short online program in two 100 minute blocks, with a 40 minute intermission for reflection in-between. This program is rescheduled on a regular basis.
The next occurrence is on January 9, 2026
08:00-12:00 London, 09:00-13:00 Brussels, 16:00-20:00 Kuala Lumpur

disclaimer: This workshop explores the deep and profound world of ikigai, "the meaning of life".
This is not about "liking things, being good at it, knowing what the world needs and getting paid for that." 

header photo credit: architecture by Tadao Ando, photographed by Francis Laleman at the Chichu Art Museum on Naoshima Island, Japan, Summer 2018

the case for ikigai

For all of us, everything since 2020 has been turbulent, urging us to reinvent ourselves, rediscover who we are and what we stand for, and perhaps find meaning in it all.

Now surely, our time hasn't been the first time that turbulence like this has happened. Surely, the general feeling of things having gone awry in an unprecedented way, is in itself not as unprecedented as we have come to call it?

Take ikigai. A concept and a methodology, or rather, a framework for individual and systemic wellbeing, that has come to prominence in the wake of Japan's 19th and early 20th-century leprosy health crisis.

Ikigai (生き甲斐 - "The Meaning of Life") is a hybrid concept, based on Japanese folklore, Taoist monastic routines, (Zen) Buddhist practices, Adlerian psychology and psychotherapy, and (perhaps most of all) the work of Mieko Kamiya (1914-1979, a most remarkable lady, who worked in a Leprosy Patient Sanatorium and wrote the seminal Ikigai-ni-Tsuite ("The Meaning of Life").

who this is for

Most participants to earlier versions and editions of this workshop have been (career) coaches, facilitators, HR professionals, teachers, therapists - but there have always been people of all flavors and trades, people who are eager to make more sense of who they are and what they do.
So we could say, this workshop is for everyone.

what this is

A three-parts online ikigai discovery workshop, with two 100-minutes plenary zoom sessions and one 40-minutes part devoted to individual introspection and reflection in between. 

The event is facilitated by Francis Laleman, based on preparation work done with Stephanie Fehr. 

As a preparation for this workshop, it is suggested that the participant reads this article by Francis Laleman - written during an extended study retreat on Naoshima in Japan, in the summer of 2018: Ikigai 生き甲斐 - Article on Medium

how this works

The working language of the workshop will be English, but participants are free to do the individual work in their own language and/or to choose to work with peers speaking the same native language as themselves during break-outs.

09:00-10:40 CET - First Plenary Session: Discovery

An interactive discovery of the concept of Ikigai, its sources, its meaning, its methodology.

10:40-11:20 CET - Individual Introspection and Reflection

Having received the necessary templates, each participant is set to work on an individual assignment, making room to understand the concept of ikigai in her own individual context. This activity takes place in an unstructured online co-working space, with a number of break-out rooms available - in a spirit of "being and working together in silence." During this time, the facilitator can be reached in a dedicated private zoom space, in case the participants would like some help and/or coaching with the assignment.

11:20-13:00 CET - Second Plenary Session (Systemic Balance)

In this session, the participants' work is brought into systemic balance - through, dialogues and conversations, mainly using Adlerian conversational techniques, clean language formats, and liberating structures.

expected takeaways

You have understood the concept that a system of fourfold blessings also entails an understanding of fourfold suffering.

You have understood that happiness in life (including work) is about balance, or rather, harmony? You have discovered that balance does not necessarily mean compromise. You have grasped the idea that ikigai is in fact an Aristotelean framework, where individual parts are connected together to form one entity, together creating more value and meaning than if the parts were in silos.

You have started to get a better view of how you could find value and meaning in your own life (including work) - and you have understood that value and meaning are interdependent from each other - and dependent on the activities and relationships that an individual nurtures with and within the environment.

You may have laid the foundations of some impactful changes in your life, which includes your work.

what earlier participants have said about this

in this workshop, my idea of "the meaning of life" gradually changed, from a big and abstract concept to the collection and connection of small stories...
I have discovered the beautiful image of designing my own shell of life, my safe space...  Ikigai is a practice.... and can be a dance...
this workshop in a few words: - experience, reflection, congruence of the inner and outer world, affirmation, joy ...
small is beautiful. no man is an island. life is about journey, not a destination...
I love the diffuse mode the model is putting me into…. terra incognita...
thank you again for your most gentle facilitation style... this was really about the group... how amazing that you have offered space for such togetherness, online, and among people from all over the world, who had never met or seen each other before.
(participants in the first online edition of this workshop, February 2021)

continue reading below this Behance Ikigai Project Page (click here to access)

registration and tickets

We typically offer our work on a pay-what-you-think-is-fair basis. To register go through two steps. First, buy a basic ticket at the rock-bottom price of € 50. Then proceed to step 2, where you augment the amount of your admission ticket with a facilitator's fee fitting your own choice and/or circumstances. Upon receipt, we issue invoices for all payments and donations. Thank you for leaving us your invoicing details (name, address, VAT number if any).