Editing Openai/6932ecc5-e634-8011-b64a-a4afcb30497a (section)

==== EAST ASIA ====

===== 5. Feng Shui (風水) – Harmony of flows (China) =====

Core idea
Human flourishing depends on the alignment of people, objects, and environment with natural and energetic flows (qi). Orientation, boundaries, thresholds, and movement patterns matter.

FOW connections
* Cognitive performance – Map “good flow” to actual behavioral data: desire lines, noise patterns, decision bottlenecks. Feng Shui becomes a metaphorical bridge to sensor-informed workplace tuning.
* Hybrid work – Thinking about flows across home, third places, and office as a single energy system: what drains people, what restores them, and how spatial transitions affect that.
* Design practice – Treat circulation, sightlines, and adjacency not just as efficiency problems but as energetic questions: where does attention pool? Where does stress accumulate? That’s consistent with universal needs around wayfinding, restoration, and intuitive spatial organization.

===== 6. Ba (場) – Shared context for knowledge creation (Japan, Nonaka) =====

Core idea
Ba is the living “place” (physical, virtual, mental) where people share context, emotions, and meaning; it’s where knowledge is actually created, not just stored.

FOW connections
* Hybrid collaboration – Instead of asking “office vs remote?”, ask: Where is our Ba for this work? Some Ba will be physical (strategy offsites), some virtual (persistent digital rooms), some social (communities-of-practice).
* Productivity tooling – Redesign digital workplaces (Slack/Teams/Notion) as intentional Ba, with clear norms, rituals, and boundaries—rather than endless notification streams.
* Physical workplace – Fewer generic “meeting rooms”; more purpose-specific Ba: spaces explicitly designed for sensemaking, conflict resolution, experimentation, or mentoring.

===== 7. Ikigai (生き甲斐) – Reason for being (Japan) =====

Core idea
A life is well-lived when what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for intersect.

FOW connections
* Work design – Move from job descriptions to ikigai portfolios: each person having a mix of tasks that serve both organizational value and personal meaning.
* Talent strategy – In an AI-heavy future, humans migrate toward work that is meaning-dense (sensemaking, care, creativity). Ikigai gives a language for building those pathways instead of just “up or out”.
* Workplace environment – Spaces that support craft and mastery (quiet studios, maker labs, practice rooms) alongside generic collaboration, signaling that deep skill is as valued as coordination.

===== 8. Wa (和) & Guanxi (关系) – Harmony and relational networks (Japan / China) =====

I’ll pair these carefully; both are often misused, but they point to important tensions.

Wa (Japan) – Harmony
* Value placed on group cohesion, reduced open conflict, subtle coordination.
* FOW application: design conflict-processing mechanisms so harmony doesn’t mean avoidance—e.g., structured conflict labs, anonymous escalation channels, and clear “how we disagree” rituals.

Guanxi (China) – Relationship networks
* Trust and obligation built over time in dense, reciprocal networks.
* FOW application: recognize that in global orgs, informal networks move more value than org charts. Map and support them: relationship-building programs, cross-border fellowships, rotational placements, and spaces tuned for hosting and hospitality, not just internal use.