• Defining the group's reason for being, building on their members motives, talents and values
• Bringing people together.

Duration: 4 hours (including breaks)

|}} “IKIGAI” is a Japanese concept that means “a reason for being”. The word refers to having a direction or purpose in life, to what makes one's life worthwhile and towards which an individual takes spontaneous and willing actions giving them satisfaction and a sense of meaning to life.

It is that place where a person's passion, mission, vocation and profession intersect.
This is well illustrated by the overlapping circles of a Venn diagram.
The four circles represent:

• What the person loves
• What the person is good at
• What the world needs
• What the person is/could be paid for

The place where the four circles meet is where the person find their “ikigaï”.

The same scheme can be used to define the reason for being of a group, by associating it's members interests, talents and values.

Divide the participants in 4 groups and the working space in 4 areas.
Dedicate each area to one of the following questions :

• What I love
• What I'm good at
• What the world needs
• What I am/could be paid for.

Invite each group to take place in one area and start the first round.
Precise that all participants will get the chance to answer each question, one after the other (the order in which they will answer doesn't matter).

First, give the participants 3 minutes of personal reflection to answer the question. Precise they can't have more than 2 propositions per item (i.e. 2 things they love, 2 things they are good at, etc.).
When time is over, invite them to share their answer out loud with the others. Take notes of what is said on a A4 sheet (using your best writing and precising the number of the group and the question they answered to).

Invite groups to switch and start again the process. Take notes of what is said on a new A4 (1 A4 per group and per question).
Repeat until all participants answered all questions.

To close this first stage, invite the participants to weight the others' answers by adding a “+” in front of the answers that fit them the most, knowing that they can only weight 2 propositions per question.

Give them a break (15').

During the break, copy each A4 twice in order to create 4 new working areas :

• PASSION by joining “What I love” & “What I'm good at”
• MISSION by joining “What I love” & “What the world needs”
• VOCATION by joining “What the world needs” & “What I am/could be paid for”
• PROFESSION by joining “What I am/could be paid for” + “What I'm good at”.

When the participants return from the break, invite them to mix and to join one working area, knowing that this time they will only work on one of them.

Each group will have the mission to define the group's passion, mission, vocation or profession building on what was expressed by all during the previous stage. Invite them to be assertive : their proposition has to be clear and short (1 sentence). Ask each group to write down their conclusion on a flipchart blank paper.

Time has come to define the reason for being of the group, using decision by consent.

As it won't be possible to lead a decision by consent process with 30 persons, invite each working group to select two persons for taking part in the decision process.
Depending your time you have, you can use the election by consent (or election without candidates) for defining who will be the group's representatives. You can also rely on random or ask for volunteers.

Gather all participants in circle :

• 1 decisional circle in the center gathering the groups' representatives and the facilitators of the meeting ;
• 1 circle for the audience, gathering all the others who won't take part in the meeting. They will assist all the process but can't take part in it. They will stay silent and trust both their representatives and the process.

Step 0: Opening round
Start the meeting with an opening round : “How do the people attending the meeting feel ?” Give the speech to each.
Precise who will facilitate the meeting and who will take notes of what is said.
Remember the meeting's objective (defining the reason for being of the group) and duration (1 hour and 15 minutes maximum).

Step 1: Getting to a proposal
Give the speech to each person to express their ideas, views and suggestions regarding what could be the group's reason for being.
After 2 rounds, ask one or two volunteers among the participants to make a proposal. Give them 5 to 10 minutes to think about it and phrase it.

Step 2: Clarification round
Start a clarification round, allowing each person to make sure they understood well the proposal thanks to the proposer(s)' answers.

Step 3: Reactions round
When there are no more questions, invite each participant to give their feedback one at a time: What do they feel regarding the proposal? What do they like in it? What do they not find relevant? What they would like to add? etc.

Step 4: Amending
Thanks to all that was said, the proposer(s) can then clarify, amend or withdraw their proposal. If they withdraw it, the group goes back to the first step. If they keep it, the group moves to the next step.

Step 5: Objections round
One at a time, participants express if they have objections to adopting the proposal.
If they do, write them down using a keyword and deal with them one after the other until no objection remains. Test the objection before addressing them to be sure the are “reasonable”. If they do, open space for back and forth discussion between the participants to help resolving it.
Once all objections are resolved, move back to the objection round to check for new objections.
When there is no objection left, the proposal is adopted by mutual consent.

Step 6: Celebration
The whole group can now celebrate their reason for being!

• Flipchart papers
• Blank paper (A4)
• Markers and pens for all
• a printer