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Going with the
FLOW Reading a computing article(*) recently
reminded me of one of one of the reasons why I
started one the path of professional coaching - the
psychological process called
flow (Wikipedia entry on Flow).
I used to teach University level computing, and I
observed something interesting
during practical sessions. Strong students looked
at the screens and saw something beyond, they saw the
logic, they saw the processes, they saw the information
they manipulated move and flow - they were engaged (they
were Neo, and this was the Matrix). Less good
students simply saw a screen, and no amount of tutoring
could bring them into the space that the other students
operated in - it just wasn't their strength.
Today I see the same with my own children as they
play computer games, or are engrossed in a book... the
mental state that the good students and my own kids were
operating in is known as the psychological process of
flow.
I was curious about how flow appeared in the
workplace - as a manager and leader, I wanted to know
what I could do to make the workplace an environment of
flow.
Flow is the ultimate motivator. As we engage in
activities we love they draw us in and we find ourselves
somehow totally immersed, disengaged from time, fully
focused on the task at hand, issues peripheral to the
task in hand just fade away. Flow energises our
activities and with it we experience a high level of
enjoyment and fulfilment.
While in a state of Flow people make the
difficult look easy, and that mirrors the functioning of
our brains which appear efficient and precise in
how the neural pathways fire while in this state.
Normally outside this state our minds fire in far-flung
and irrelevant ways, very active, poorly focused.
Research by Mihalyi Csikzentmihalyi from University
of Chicago has shown that on average we can spend up to
50% of our time at work in a state of flow - that means
that at best 50% of the time we are working
effortlessly, immersed in what we are doing, engaged
with the task in hand. What about the other 50%...
What about our leisure time... well our ability to
engage drops to 20%, with the vast proportion of our
time lost to apathy.
Top performers in work and life succeed in achieving
a state of flow at much higher levels.
What motivates these top performers how do they
achieve this higher state of flow?
Motive and emotion share the same Latin root, motere,
"To Move". Emotions are, literally, what move us to
pursue our goals; they fuel our motivations, and our
motives in turn drive our perceptions and shape our
actions. Great work starts with great feeling.
(**)
Can we create an environment where we can be
motivated, engaged and in the flow more often? I believe
the answer to be "Yes!".
Create challenges that are in balance with your
abilities, thus keeping keeping your emotions out of
anxiety or boredom.
The first place to start is to know what are
your strengths and abilities... working with them you
will find that getting into a state of flow will be
significantly easier than trying to achieve flow in an
area where you do not have strength.(***)
Once that foundation in in place then the eight major
components of Flow from Csikzentmihalyi's research can
be applied:
Providing an environment with:
- A
challenging activity requiring skill;
- A
merging of action and awareness;
- Clear
goals;
-
Direct, immediate feedback;
- A
sense of control;
Resulting in...
-
Concentration on the task in hand;
- A loss
of self-consciousness; and
- An
altered sense of time.
By this stage you may be asking "just how did this
get you into coaching?"
For the components of flow to be realised in our
lives effectively we need support., and the support that
coaching can offer will accelerate your understanding of
just what takes you into the Flow Zone.
Through my Time to Grow coaching programme I aim to
provide that environment of support: to assist you
clearly define your strengths, purpose and direction.
To achieve your objectives successfully and reach new
levels of satisfaction and fulfilment - Flow.
Come on, let's FLOW!
Andrew Gregg, May 07
References:
* Jenova Chen, "Flow in Games (and Everything Else),
Communications of the ACM, April 2007
** Daniel Goleman, "Working with Emotional
Intelligence", Pages 105-113
*** Marcus Buckingham, "Now discover your
strengths"
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