Being Matters - Volume 1
About this ebook
A Collective Exploration of the Human Condition
Why do capable people burn out while pursuing success? Why do well-intentioned systems produce disappointing outcomes? Why do organisations, relationships and societies drift away from the values they claim to uphold?
Many books try to answer these questions with new strategies, tools or techniques. Being Matters takes a different path. It looks beneath behaviour and outcomes to explore something more fundamental: how human beings make sense of the world and how they are being within it.
Across entrepreneurship, organisational life, leadership, relationships, stewardship, disability, identity, parenthood and pivotal career transitions, contributors from diverse backgrounds bring these questions into the real world. Their perspectives are varied, but they are connected by a shared engagement with the Being Framework™ and a commitment to clarity, responsibility and systemic integrity. Each brings extensive experience and insight from their field.
The chapters in this book examine how the stance we bring to life quietly shapes what becomes possible. They explore why the way we interpret situations, relate to pressure, respond to others and understand ourselves influences our decisions, actions and consequences, often more than we realise.
This is a book for readers who are tired of surface-level explanations and quick fixes. It is for leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals, coaches, those shaping systems and anyone willing to ask more honest questions about what sits beneath behaviour and performance, and how our ways of being ripple through the organisations, institutions, communities, cultures and societies we help shape.
Rather than promising simple answers, Being Matters invites you to look more carefully at the human forces shaping your life and the systems you participate in. By the end, you may recognise familiar situations differently and see more clearly how the way you are being shapes your own life, the relationships you form and the systems you engage with.
Written by:
Ashkan Tashvir, Ariya Chittasy, Lucy Faulconer, Dr Anna Carr, John Williams, Tanja Caprioli, Jeanette Mundy, Atefeh Tashvir, Melissa Chittasy, Wayne Stickel, Louise Smallwood, Jacqueline Hofste, Anthea Stevanovic, Caroline New, Aydin Yassemi, John Smallwood, Marlous Teh, Dr Jordan Marijana Alexander and Dr Ehssan Sakhaee
Compiled by:
Ashkan Tashvir
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About the author
Ashkan is a multidisciplinary author, philosopher and entrepreneur whose work bridges ontology, organisational design, human development, technology and systems thinking. His intellectual pursuit is not limited to observing the world but transforming it. Through a rare integration of philosophical inquiry and real-world execution, he has developed frameworks that advance human potential, leadership and the sustainability of systems.
He is the author of Being, Human Being, Becoming, Metacontent and Sustainabilism, with several more books currently in development. His broader written contribution also extends beyond his own books to chapters published in Springer volumes, including The Sustainable Organization and Transforming Public and Private Sector Organizations.
His body of work includes the Being Framework™, an ontological paradigm for leadership, performance and effectiveness, adopted by leaders across more than 50 countries. Supported by applied tools such as the Being Profile®, his work enables measurable growth in individuals and organisations by illuminating the human qualities that shape or compromise performance, integrity and systemic resilience.
In parallel with this book, Ashkan has led the development of the Sustainability Profile, an ontometric diagnostic and transformation tool designed to elevate how leaders and organisations assess and build sustainability at human, cultural and structural levels. Designed to mirror the impact of the Being Profile, it offers a practical pathway for leaders to cultivate authentic sustainability in themselves, their teams and the systems they shape.
Ashkan’s thinking is informed by Eastern, Western, Islamic and Persian philosophical traditions, as well as faith-based and scientific perspectives. Rather than taking sides, he synthesises and transcends them, offering a practical and regenerative path forward for leaders, organisations and societies. In recognition of his contributions to leadership and organisational development, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from the Collège de Paris in 2024.
Beyond theory, he builds. Ashkan is the founder of Engenesis, a platform for human transformation, and Engenesis Ventures, a venture-building organisation shaping ventures, technologies and leadership cultures using his ontological and systemic frameworks. His work exists not only in books and philosophy, but in enterprises, economies and futures being shaped today.
Recently, Ashkan has focused increasingly on philanthropic work through GHEST, a stewardship-driven community on the Engenesis platform dedicated to human empowerment and sustainable transformation. Recognising that many who would benefit most from his work may not pursue traditional commercial pathways, he created GHEST to make these ideas, tools and developmental structures accessible to broader communities. His commitment in this realm is grounded in expanding human potential, fostering conscious and ethical participation, and enabling individuals and groups to navigate uncertainty with integrity, humility and collective responsibility.
