What is Eudaimonic design?

What makes a good life?

We’ve likely been asking what makes a good life for as long as we’ve had the luxury of sitting around with some spare time on our hands. There’s no shortage of proposed answers to the question across cultures and throughout the ages. 

Aristotle, for one, said a life worth living was one of virtuous action, moderated by reason. In his day, many assumed that happiness was all about the pursuit of pleasure (not much has changed). Aristotle disagreed. He thought that pleasure was fleeting; here this moment, gone the next, and definitely not the end-goal we should be striving for. A truly good life, he argued, is all about having a purpose and pursuing it with excellence; every day bringing the very best of ourselves to do something genuinely important. We’ll often fail in the quest, but it’s the daily practice of it, the constant desire to make tomorrow a little better than today that yields a life well-lived.     

A mighty oak in every acorn

Sometimes a metaphor is used to describe this kind of eudaimonic potential: within every acorn exists the resources and potential to become a mighty oak tree. All it needs are the right conditions day after day, and a collection of acorns has the potential to become a forest of mighty oaks. 

Realizing our eudaimonic potential isn’t simple and it’s not easy. Research shows it requires getting to know and accept ourselves, both our strengths and our weaknesses. We need autonomy and the opportunity to grow. Positive relationships are essential, as is catching a glimpse of what gives meaning to our life. If we can leverage all of those resources in the environments and situations we find ourselves in, we have a fighting chance of knowing what the right “virtuous action” might look like - at the right time, in the right context, and with the right players around us.

Why it’s important

Evidence increasingly shows that accessing these eudaimonic resources leads to a better employee experience - not only one with higher well-being, but also increased retention rates, productivity, innovation, smarter decision-making, higher customer loyalty, and ultimately greater impact on the things that matter most to your organization.  

Beyond all of that, our world needs eudaimonic action now more than ever. As we realize the essential role organizations must play in building the world we want (not just the world our grandchildren can survive in), those organizations need stakeholders who pursue purpose with full engagement, excellence and ethics. 

Designed for success

Despite its importance, most organizations do not operate in a way that enables eudaimonic action. In fact, most policies and procedures, most approaches to leadership, and most cultural anchor points in organizations encourage employees to fall in line and do what they’re told within tight confines of what is expected from the top. Hardly a recipe for bringing the best of ourselves to do important work. 

It’s a “how might we” question 

Designing an organization to enable eudaimonic action is a complex systems challenge. It requires a different way of thinking and a recognition that one size fits none. Because we’re trying to enable the highest potential of people, we must approach the challenge from a people-first perspective. That usually means that those with the best answers to the problem aren’t the brilliant designers in their workshop, but the very people we’re trying to design for. 

A human-centered design approach matches what the science says of eudaimonia. We all have basic human needs for mastery (getting better at something), relatedness (belonging to community), and autonomy (choosing our own adventure). As long as we genuinely care about the people who make up our organizations - and especially if the purpose of work is fundamentally meaningful - engaging people in the task of eudaimonic design means that they fulfill their needs while creating the conditions for themselves to become the mighty oaks we all have the potential to be.