Ikigai to Geekigai
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ikigai-geekigai-nivine-k-zakhari-/ 14 Apr 2019
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ikigai-geekigai-nivine-k-zakhari-/ 14 Apr 2019
There’s a Japanese concept of “Ikigai” which, loosely translated, is one’s “reason for being.” For many, finding their Ikigai give them a sense of purpose that helps overcome short-term obstacles on their path to fulfillment. It’s a great topic in mentoring discussions because it’s deceptively simple, but has enormous depth for those willing to explore their sense of calling and natural abilities aligned with the practical demands of the market and daily life.
Geek note: Although it is sometimes referred to as a Venn diagram, it’s actually a Euler diagram.
Tim Tamashiro recently gave a TEDx talk on this that’s worth a watch.
So while I’ve been incorporating the concept of Ikigai in a lot of professional development and mentoring activities, it also seemed a great way to help distill some concepts in my role as a Business Applications Customer Success Manager.
Business Applications include Dynamics and the Power Platform (PowerApps, Flow, and Power BI) already, but the solutions our customers and partners can create are even more powerful when they incorporate all the great features and capabilities available through the other solution areas, Modern Workplace, Data & AI, and Apps & Infrastructure, e.g., integration with Office 365 components, esp. Outlook and Sharepoint, leveraging the Intelligent Cloud for Advanced Analytics & AI, and using the DevOps capabilities in Azure.
It’s deceptively simple, but has enormous depth when and where you need it.
How might this all come together? Take a look at the MIMS solution used by Microsoft’s legal team to manage immigration processing.
On a spectrum, you can see where some of the no/low code solutions can be addressed directly by decision makers and business analysts with access to SaaS offerings around personal productivity and enterprise line of business applications. As requirements get more complex, our ISV partners have solutions already available to address common horizontal and vertical requirements, while data scientists and engineers can use Azure App Dev, IoT, and Data Services to address more complex requirements calling for low to high code solutions.
So that’s how to Geekigai, Microsoft Biz Apps style. You might not get a karate belt, but you can get some other cool badges and trophies through the Microsoft Learn site if you want to learn more.
Reference
“Creating an immigration workflow management solution with Dynamics 365,” Apr. 2018.
Chris Myers, “How to Find your Ikigai”, Forbes, Feb 2018.
Neil Pasricha, “Why North Americans should consider dumping age-old retirement,” The Star, Sep. 2016.
Tim Tamashiro, “How to Ikigai,” TEDxYYC, Sep. 2018.
Wikipedia, “Euler Diagram” and “Ikigai”
Idunn Wolfe, “Immigration tool removes hurdles for Microsoft employees,” Mar. 2019.
Switchfoot, “Native Tongue — Live in Atlanta,” Mar. 2019.