From Mission To Missioning. Leadering In Action.

Indy Johar, Mission Steward at Dark Matter Labs, recently shared a powerful reflection: the word “mission”, once evocative of Apollo-style focus, fixed timelines, and linear plans, now feels increasingly brittle in the face of complexity. He argues that while missions have fueled legitimacy, funding, and top-down transitions, they fall short when applied to entangled systems where goals shift, the world resists, and risk evolves.

Instead, Johar invites us to move from mission (a noun) to missioning (a verb)—from static goals to evolving goal-spaces; from predefined success to co-shaped, fuzzy outcomes; from execution to relational coherence; from closure to ongoing capacity to sense, reframe, act. It’s not a tidy answer, but an invitation to dwell in the questions—and hold coherence in uncertainty.

ALIGNING MISSIONING WITH LEADERING

This reframing resonates deeply with the philosophy of Leadering—the practice of leadership reimagined as adaptive, curious, emergent, and learning-oriented. Here’s where the parallels emerge:

• From fixed plans to evolving pathways

  Missions presume control; Leadering embraces learning. Missioning and Leadering both recognize that today’s world demands adaptability over prescriptive plans.

• From outputs to relational coherence

  Traditional missions privilege execution. Leadering, like missioning, centers connection, co-creation, and the relational dynamics that enable responses to what unfolds.

• From ending to ongoing renewal

  Missions often close at completion. In contrast, Leadering and missioning thrive on iteration—sensing shifting contexts, reframing actions, and staying in fluid dialogue with change.

Both frameworks move away from the hubris of knowing toward the humility of learning. They invite us to reframe what it means to navigate change—not as a problem to solve, but as a landscape to engage with, shape, and co-author.

WHY MISSIONING MATTERS NOW

In complex, uncertain environments—be they civic systems, innovation ecosystems, or global challenges—static missions unravel. Missioning, like Leadering, becomes a culturally and operationally stronger posture:

• It invites participation rather than mandates obedience

• It opens feedback loops instead of freezing in assumptions

• It normalizes doubt and emergence instead of wedded certainty

In short, missioning embodies the shift from knowing to learning, from executing to adapting—the very transformation that Leadering calls for. Further, as leaders, strategists, and change makers, we must ask ourselves:

• Are we clinging to mission language that obscures complexity?

• Can we shift toward missioning—holding purpose as alive, co-creatively shaped, and continual?

• How do we cultivate Leadering—not as a discipline, but as a mindset that flexes with what’s next?

THE CALL TO VISIONARY LEADERS

To explore more of Indy Johar’s thinking and find the full “From Mission to Missioning: Reframing for Strategic Risk and Inherent Uncertainty” report—check out his LinkedIn feed and discover an essential companion to Leadering in uncertain times.