Core Report Page 3: Looking Forward

Throughout my time at Gaia U I’ve pondered how to convert this learning into a viable livelihood.  At a couple points in my professional life I’ve put myself ahead of the curve on what society was ready to value; working on projects that I know are what the world needs, but struggling to make a living at it.  In those cases I’ve experienced the frustration years later, having moved on to other things, of watching how the markets caught up and began to value that work, too late for me. Timing, as the saying goes, is everything. With my studies in Ecosocial Design I’ve wondered, am I doing the same thing to myself again?  One criteria certainly matches: this work is conclusively what the world needs today – architecting pathways towards a thriving future. The question becomes, which expression of this work will have the right timing?

In order to forestall building a non-viable career I’ve paid ongoing attention to the state of the market with regards to the many expressions of this field.  I’ve conducted analyses on different aspects of the market and on myself, and designed many of my experiments and projects around working with organizations and projects that are already financially successful.  In fact, I paid for my entire capstone cycle with income from my OP projects!  

As I demonstrate in all three of my capstone project OPs, the moment is ripe for a society-wide shift in direction:  OP2 explores this in economics and business; in my OP3 project I repeatedly attract a curious and eager audience to my trainings and workshops in ecosocial design; in OP4 I work with educators desperate to find a replacement for failing command-and-control educational systems.  The obvious tensions in the political zeitgeist are further evidence that change is coming, whether we want it or not. The key then lies in positioning ourselves to guide that change towards something positive. Anthropocene is a term that has emerged to frame our current moment as a geologic epoch, one in which humans are the determinant force shaping the earth.  If that is the case, I contend that we have an unprecedented opportunity: to create an intentional – as in conscious – anthropocene. If we are the determinant force, then let’s use that power and a little knowledge and imagination to create a thriving future. I see this as the role of the ecosocial designer.  

In the introduction to my LIPD I reiterate the mission that brought me to Gaia U:  to work towards a time in which humanity lives in harmony with nature and each other.  What I was struggling to find was what in Regenerative Development and Design is called my "distinct, value-adding role.”  Identifying that became a focus of my capstone cycle. 

In my OP2 I include a research project entitled The Ecosocial Designer as Facilitator of Change in which I present my nascent career in ecosocial design as a case study framed in the stages of Theory U.  I conclude by stating:

The final phase of the U is Co-Evolving.  This occurs when the designer is sufficiently satisfied with the outcomes of the testing they've done in the Co-Creating phase to begin scaling their work for wider distribution.  Taking it into the world, as it where. The title of this section is The Ecosocial Designer as Facilitator of Change, and the reader can learn about many of the change making projects I've experimented with throughout my extended Co-Creating phase.   The transition into Co-Evolving is a process of completing the work of my Capstone phase at Gaia University as I continue to build my professional presence. My final output packet, OP5 – Learning Review, will include a business plan and a new website detailing my offerings.  These will position me to move into a full-time professional life, post-graduation. 

As it happens, I over-promised when I anticipated having a business plan and a website ready to go at this time, especially given my compressed timeline.  Nevertheless, below I present the following works in progress:  An Ikigai analysis, a Lean Canvas business outline, and a the beginnings of a website.

In my LIPD I introduce the Ikigai Framework as a tool to help identify that sweet spot where what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for intersect.  Ikigai is a Japanese word which basically translates as "a reason for being."  (It is a concept which has been researched by Japanese social scientists since at least the 1960's, although I have been unable to identify yet who first arranged it as this Venn diagram.)  This is an elusive place that I’ve found one orbits rather than arrives at, staying attentive to emerging opportunities and taking them as they come. Below I present my Ikigai of the moment, based on a combination of my analysis from OP2 and my assessment of my current situation.  

Looking a the table above, I'm fortunate to find several activities that appear in all four of the criteria.  These are my ikigai:

• Regenerative business and organizational development
• Climate change mitigation and adaptation
• Ecosocial curriculum and program development
• Leadership/Life coaching
• Systems thinking
• Teaching

There is significant overlap between these activities as well.  For instance, the teaching and curriculum development I've been doing is saturated with systems thinking, climate adaptation, and leadership coaching;   the climate adaptation work I've been doing is a component of my organizational development practice; all of these are expressions of ecosocial design. With this information and the results of the personality analyses I did for OP2, I am able to move on to outlining a business plan using Lean Canvas.

One of the skillflexes I’ve worked on the most over the last two years is agile business planning using the Lean Canvas template.  It offers a quick and easy way to assess the major components of a business plan and see how they relate to each other, all on a single page.  Below I present a Lean Canvas business plan based on the outcomes of my Ikigai.  

Note:  Due to a software error, I was unable to fill out the cell for Unique Value Proposition.  This is probably the most challenging part of the Lean Canvas, and I present a provisional working version here:

Unique Value Proposition:  Sound and successful problem solving for a changing world.

• Lastly, I present the beginnings of my website.  At the time of this writing it is merely a landing page, and in the way of websites it is continually evolving.  In the meantime, below is a mind map and this link leads to my draft outline of the site.  

I am well positioned for a transition away from academics and into a professional life.  This transition becomes my priority once I’ve graduated, but it has already begun. The work with Cultures of Dignity that I presented in OP4 remains ongoing, and I have been approached by a university to do some teaching once I graduate.  I also have some leadership coaching clients. My plans for ongoing professional development include completing my Advisor Training and taking the introductory Re-Evaluation Counseling training.  

Ultimately, one of the best measures of my professional development is the livelihood goals I set for myself in 2017 and then revisited in my capstone OP2:

1. Generate Income with Flexibility & Diversification
2. Stay in Field
3. Maintain Impact Alignment
4. Design a Marketing Profile
5. Finish School

I’ve tracked these from 2018 to the present and you can read my outcomes in the final column of this spreadsheet.  With the completion of this OP, I have now succeeded in advancing or completing all of these goals, paving the way for a successful transition to full-time professional life.