I discovered the concept of IKIGAI around the same time I had my own realization of it, making the idea deeply personal to me.
Ikigai is a Japanese term that combines the word “iki”, which means to live, and “gai”, which means reason. While IKIGAI literally translates to Reason for Living, I think a better way to think of it is as being both attuned to yourself and to life - and to live in accordance.
My IKIGAI moment came while helping my then 1st and 3rd grade kids navigate remote learning during COVID-19. The schools, unprepared for this shift, offered a disjointed mix of content and protocols rather than a cohesive curriculum. Seeing the chaos, my instinct was to step back, map the system from a highest level, and work inward to bring clarity and structure—applying my dynamic mapping process.
I began by gathering each curriculum’s "Scope & Sequence" and all available materials, creating an "As Is" map. From there, I refined it—culling, organizing, and supplementing information while considering my kids’ learning styles—to produce a streamlined, logical system. Finally, I translated this refined map into a visually intuitive structure, choosing a website as the medium.
Deep in this process, the realization struck: this is my IKIGAI! This is the work I instinctively do, excel at, and have been paid to do throughout my career. As businesses increasingly navigate rapid technological change, this skill—transforming complexity into clarity—is more valuable than ever.
My friend and fellow co-founder of The The Vancouver Voice used to always say to me when laying out the newspaper - "Form Follows Function." I used to argue back that, "Form Is Function". Turns out, we were both right, and this dual truth is the foundation of Dynamic Systems Management -my IKIGAI.
However, I stick this term because all of the current job titles that equate to this work are too specific to imply the broader cross-functional skillset. The following are some of the job titles that imply this work:
Though I have yet to find a job title that exactly matches the work, I think Dynamic Systems Manager is a good place holder because:
Dynamic because, while all systems are dynamic, it is the aspect that represents the most neglect - specifically the set points and feedback loops.
System because it's the broadest word I can use for the myriad of roles and organizational levels this work is applicable to .
Manager is the least good fit of the words because, while the bulk of the work I do is mapping, optimizing and translating, managing implies a steady-state. However, all other words that fit are either cringe inducing or fall short.
TKTKTK, I can see 3 things:
1. If I look at all of the new, related positions that represent a subset of the job I am envisioning, you can see a trajectory of them moving up the org chart and into this role.
2. This indicates a recognition for the need for this work.
3. Despite the lack of an existing job title, I can see that not only is this work at the heart of many existing and evolving job titles and descriptions, but it can be applied to a myriad of position in any organization.
I believe that this role will ultimately fall within the Business Intelligence hierarchy, even though currently the purview of Business Intelligence resides strictly within the realm of data, and I the job title name that I have plotted my course for is Chief Intelligence Officer. I figure that by the time I have acquired all of the skill and experience necessary to succeed in this role as I envision it, if Business Intelligence hasn't expanded is purview do include to the business as a whole, I'll at least be able to make a solid case for it to.
Until then, I will just refer to this work as Dynamic Systems Management (awful, I know).
The word "Dynamic" is the key part of this, as half of the idea of this process is to ensure you have comprehensive feedback loops set in place to constantly know how your system is working relative to your mission, values, goals, and strategy, as well as processes in place to be able to adjust the whole system to this feedback.
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Dynamic | Although every systems are dynamic, I add this word to the title to emphasize the importance of acknowledging this fact. Entropy is the enemy of all focused pursuits, and I feel confident in saying that the vast majority of issues within workplaces and business pursuits today is a lack of accounting for this. Thousands of decisions, rules, processes, etc. are made and implemented in every company yearly, and rarely are they either measured up to the vision, values, goals, and strategies of the whole enterprise, or created with set-points and feedback loops to monitor there effect and effectiveness.
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Manager | I actually considered using the word Cartographer instead of manger, because mapping the systems is the real value I bring, but once I've mapped it I can manage the system as well.
Essentially, the work for me is to take on systems of increasing size and complexity, and to comprehensively and dynamically map, translate, and manage them. To create, either from scratch or from an existing framework, the most logical, TKTK, TKTK, TKTK version of this system,
This is work is perfectly suited to my nature, in that it TKTKT, it is trailblazing by nature, and requires me to flex and grow both TKTK parts of me - the logical and methodical left-brain, and the creative ane exploratory right-brain.
No matter what level of a system I am working in, I eschew TKTK siloed TKTK for a completely comprehensive approach - including the systems mission, goals, values, strategies, programs, processes, feedback loops, and personelle.
It requires me to use data management practices, like entity-relationship mapping and data lifecycle, when managing content, and to convey data in concise, visually intuitive ways.
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In short, by comprehensively managing your company's ecosystem, not only can you increase the efficacy and productivity TKTK, but you can drastically reduce the negative byproducts of it's lack that are the dredge of every employee and workplace today.
I know this sounds like an gross overreach but, for any of the most common complaints in the workplace today, I can makes a solid case that this work is the solution.
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In short, this work is the antidote to entropy in a company, and all of insidious byproducts it begets that slow a system down - disconnection, confusion, contention, burnout, and eventually unnecessary turnover.
By comprehensively managing your company's ecosystem, you can avoid the most common workplace problems today:
Key Highlights & Qualifications Include:
➜ A proclivity for roles and projects that require vision, creativity, and tenacity
➜ Managing and optimizing complex systems to align with organizational mission, values,goals, and strategies
➜ Applying data management practices to content management – most notablyentity/relationship mapping and the data lifecycle.
➜ Implementing new processes, or improving existing processes, that enhanceefficiency, accuracy, and completeness in records management
➜ Training / Onboarding staff to imbue the team with the knowledge and confidencenecessary to excel in their roles, per the standard and metrics set by the company
➜ Collaborating cross-departmentally and/or with external stakeholders.
➜ Overseeing compliance regarding layers of control and access of information
Skills & Competencies
➜ Dynamic systems management
➜ Information flow management
➜ Process improvement & optimization
➜ Documenting policies and procedures
➜ Training and staff development
➜ System Implementation and quality control
➜ Cross-Departmental collaboration
➜ Collaboration with external stakeholders➜ Budget Management and Forecasting
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