“FLOW”: HIGH QUALITY EXPERIENCES

“FLOW” OR “HOW TO ACHIEVE HAPPINESS”  

The concept of “FLOW” was described by Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his 1990 book (“FLOW”) after years of investigation at the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. The book was a best seller. Other books followed, applying the concept to specific areas, including business. You can find some lectures by Professor Csikszentmihalyi in YOUTUBE and other Internet sites. He was for some time the chairman of his Department and later on professor at the Drucker School of Management in California.   

At first sight, “FLOW” sounds like something you would hear from a funny sect or a miraculous technique you would hear about in the TV programs late at night. You can easily imagine the TV host, dressed as a wizard, in a set decorated with planets and horoscope symbols, lecturing about how to get into “flow”.

However, “FLOW” is a well-established concept, used extensively in Positive Psychology. You’ll find an article in the WIKIPEDIA (look for “Flow (psychology)”) and an iPhone App for measuring your flow states (“InFlow” by AITA Ltd). Several investigators in universities around the world have been investigating “flow” in various contexts. For getting a good understanding of the concept, it is necessary (in my opinion) to read Csikszentmihalyi’s book; reading a short description won’t do it. “FLOW” is one of those concepts that are at the same time simple and subtle, close to our knowledge space but at the same time difficult to define the boundaries. In his book, Csikszentmihalyi presents tenths of examples, with chapters dealing with the body (sports, etc.), intellectual activity, the workplace, social life, etc. After going through all those examples, you really get the idea.

The reason for writing a few articles about “FLOW” in this space is to explore its immediate, simple and extremely rewarding application to our work environments. I lived in the past years several situations in which I somehow “knew” we were doing wrong, with a wrong management framework. However, I could not really identify what was wrong, all I had were vague “feelings”. The concept of “FLOW” is invaluable for making sense of a number of these situations.  

WHAT IS “FLOW”? 

FLOW is an experience we all know quite well. Recall a few situations in which you were felt happy, and chances are you were experiencing FLOW. 

A few examples: 

• you were playing a disputed sports match for some time; it can be tennis, soccer, basketball, baseball, golf or any other sports; you were very concentrated and enjoying it a lot; time passed fast, you couldn’t believe you had been playing for longer than two hours (much longer, if golf)  

• at work, you were dealing with a sales operation that became more and more difficult; the customer presented several last time conditions; your team didn’t know how to deal with them; you had to figure out new solutions and you had the deadline just ahead; you had to stretch your best skills; in the end, you were proud of the final result – much better than you had imagined in the beginning 

• you are a student, at any level; in September, you see an area as particularly difficult (it could be Maths, French, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics or Introduction to Heidegger’s Philosophy). You dedicate time and effort to it – and it takes you a lot - and you have good progress. By May, you have mastered the area and are quite comfortable teaching your colleagues. 

• you are taking care of your baby; she is learning how to walk and she is saying her first words; you enjoy spending your time with her, it is the best time of the day; time goes by and you do not notice it; you both are smiling almost all the time 

• a musician is playing the piano; he feels challenged by a particularly difficult piece of music; he spends days practicing and figuring out how to best play some parts; after a lot of effort, he can play the whole piece without errors; while playing, he feels his hands go over the keyboard by themselves – he feels he is in “FLOW”  

Csikszentmihalyi used the word FLOW for naming his concept after the word appeared many times in the descriptions of positive experiences provided by several artists and sportsmen he were observing.

In the next article: definition of FLOW.

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