The Lived Values

A discourse on values and meaning, whether internal or external, can probably be traced back at least to the Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Epicurus, and Aristotle, with the possibility of interpreting the allegory of the cave as an example. In the sense of organizational Ikigai, an organization can succeed in obtaining meaning-oriented commitment from its employees if they find their individual Ikigai also in the organizational context. To enable this, the organization must create a framework that allows this commitment. The values lived in an organization serve as a vehicle for this, which are placed at the center of the design in order to then be able to bring them into an experience for the individuals, but also the collective. This chapter is dedicated to the second lever of organizational Ikigai—the values lived in an organization (see Fig. 7.1). First, a brief overview of the understanding of values relevant to this work is given. From here, the possibility will be shown of how values within organizations can be transferred into a framework that is tangible and implementable for people. On this basis, the considerations are expanded by an evolutionary perspective, which shows how organizations can develop into an Ikigai organization.