Genre: Personal Development
By
Paperback
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303 pp.
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Harper Collins
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Reprint
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4.5 rat genre : Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ( marked “ CHICK-sent-me-high-ee ” ) is credibly one of the most important books I have read for my profession, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as for myself as Human Being. I read this for the first time more than 15 years ago and have now read it again to review some of the concepts investigated in this book. The concept of Flow has had a identical crucial consequence on both psychology and management, the Flow Model developed by the author as a consequence of his research is inactive widely adopted. We can truly define this book as a classic, so far when re-reading, it besides left some bitter taste .
The rationality is dim-witted : we have had for about 20 years the integral cognition on what truly can get people in the flow, and so far we have not been able to exploit amply the likely of Flow for people .
What is hang
In many ways, people always assumed that happiness and enjoyment where states linked to rest. What Csikszentmihalyi and his fellows ’ researchers discovered is alternatively that : The best moments normally occur when a person ’ s torso or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary feat to accomplish something unmanageable and worthwhile. optimum experience is frankincense something that we make happen .
The sense of enjoyment
This is all linked to the definition of Enjoyment, which spans a big part of the book. Csikszentmihalyi states that the phenomenology of enjoyment has eight major components. and when people describe what they enjoyed they list at least 1 component
- First, the experience usually occurs when we confront tasks we have a chance of completing.
- Second, we must be able to concentrate on what we are doing.
- Third and fourth, the concentration is usually possible because the task undertaken has clear goals and provides immediate feedback.
- Fifth, one acts with a deep but effortless involvement that removes from awareness the worries and frustrations of everyday life.
- Sixth, enjoyable experiences allow people to exercise a sense of control over their actions. Seventh, concern for the self disappears, yet paradoxically the sense of self emerges stronger after the flow experience is over.
- Finally, the sense of the duration of time is altered; hours pass by in minutes, and minutes can stretch out to seem like hours.
The combination of all these elements causes a feel of bass use that is so rewarding people feel that expending a great share of energy is worthwhile plainly to be able to feel it .
How do we enter the State of Flow ?
The author explores the way Flow is formed and concludes this to be a balance between the right flush of challenge, and the right level of experience. Flow is therefore reaffirmed as a active state, not always easy to achieve. The two key components are represented by the writer in a graph, where Flow is represented as a corridor between two other states : boredom and anxiety .
Fig.1: Flow Theory ( Csikszentmihalyi, 1988, 1991, 1993 cited in Hood, 2007) The first happens when the degree of our skills is higher than the level of challenge posed by the goal we have. The second is alternatively experienced when the degree of challenge is higher than the skills we have .
But Flow is dynamic : we might get into a challenge flat that is higher than expected, we, consequently, enter a state of matter of Anxiety, and this pushes us to learn raw skills, frankincense moving back into the flow groove. Same happens if we have developed excessively many skills into a field so that it becomes “ excessively easy ” for us. In this sheath, by working on our goals, we can climb back into the menstruate channel moving away from Boredom .
With this, the writer creates a strong connection with concepts of Motivation that we have already seen for exercise in Pink ’ mho bring, vitamin a well as with principled of Curiosity and Learning Agility that I have besides already written about .
here a unretentive video that summarizes the key concepts of the bible.
Video: Flow Book Summary.
The 8 Characteristics of Flow
Csikszentmihalyi describes eight characteristics of menstruate :
- Complete concentration on the task;
- Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback;
- Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down);
- The experience is intrinsically rewarding;
- Effortlessness and ease;
- There is a balance between challenge and skills;
- Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination;
- There is a feeling of control over the task.
I good want to unmarried out a few key aspects : having goals, receiving feedback ( which is why Candor becomes such an crucial skill ), gratitude and impregnable Listening .
Why aren ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate we in permanent Flow ?
This is the most matter to part of the book, i.e. the exploration of why Flow is not ( and can not be ) a permanent submit. First of wholly, as we ’ ve seen, is a dynamic experience. Inertia alone would move us towards boredom by plainly not doing much. Seeking menstruate excessively frequently can actually create a department of state of dependence, similar to that of drugs .
More just, we spend many energies during our Flow state, and it takes time to recharge. There are many psychological implications adenine well we need to consider, as Flow is besides a delicate libra between our inner self and the external factors that can influence it .
stream at work
There are a few unexpected consequences of re-reading this reserve today. The beginning is its insistence on Experience. In a global so focused on Customer Experience and Employee Experience, the concept of stream can very help to understand what works and what doesn ’ thymine. After all, in 1996 Csikszentmihalyi himself was one of the first gear in seeing the vane as a room to stage experiences rather than just voyage contents. And made besides an immediate connect with the key emergence that engineering was about to create : a severe issue with attention .
communication is instantaneous. I ’ m afraid after a while we may not pay much attention to it. The gates of attention allow identical few things to come in .Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Go with the Flow, Wired, 1996
A second consequence is an impact on the new forms of workplace. I have already written about this, but the holocene focus on self-management can be immediately linked with a better link to motivation drivers and flow. The author himself had dedicated a chapter in the book on the concept of Flow at Work, and looked at few examples related to the fact that Work itself created a paradoxical asymmetry between flow situation and “ stress ” .
A third consequence is directly linked with the concept of Purpose, both at an individual and organizational level. The holocene trends we have discussed organisations trying to better define their purpose can be read as a room to intentionally design culture that stimulates experiences of Flow for their collaborators. Can we besides design organisations that allow this ?
Below the celebrated Ted spill the beans by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on what Flow means .
Video: 2004 Ted Talk on Flow
stopping point
Flow has been a disrupting book in many ways. inquiry has continued to deepen the understand around the basics of Flow, so far excessively many people are merely unaware of the basics of the Theory of Flow. Which is why, for exercise, I ’ ve used this intensively in my prepare experience, at all levels in the constitution .
stream for me becomes besides something more than equitable an individuals ’ research for enjoyment. polish, Motivation, Purpose, all dynamic elements that need to be intentionally designed around the idea that we need to create the conditions for Flow to happen. This the challenge for us in the future, more and more .
I besides feel happy for this to be the final Review I publish in 2019. It has been an acute year in terms of read, and I in truth believe this record to be foundational in understanding what people management should be about : enabling operation by creating the conditions for the stream to happen .
Did you read Flow ? What have been your feelings ?
Flow
music genre : Personal Development | Rating : 4.5/5
By Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Paperback | 303 pp. | Harper Collins | 01/07/2008 | Reprint
ISBN : 9780061339202
Buy on Amazon
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Goodreads Reviews
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