This is the last in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice. In this article I want to explore why understanding Flow is important for leaders.

As leaders we need to not only look after the best interests of those that have chosen to follow us, but in doing so we also need to be good role models. We need to practice what we preach and lead others in such a way that is in line with how we are leading ourselves.

In a previous article, I talked about what I consider the real meaning of life. To put it simply, the meaning of life is to discover how we want to feel and find a way to create a life that allows us to have this feeling as often and as long as possible. To me, the concept of Flow is a gateway to being able to discover how we want to feel.

The Leader and Flow

One of the driving factors of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s research was finding out why some people enjoy life and thrive while others languish in similar situations.

Flow describes why this is so. When we are able to experience Flow we are happier, have higher self-esteem and are much more satisfied with the work that we do. All of these are qualities that help us be a more effective leader.

When we are able to replicate these qualities over and over again, we are seen as someone who genuinely enjoys and is passionate about their work. Something that we, as effective leaders, need to convey to those around us.

Finding situations that create Flow is not always easy. There are plenty of distractions for us to worry about and when we get too caught up in all of these distractions, we can miss the Flow opportunities. Being aware of the characteristics of Flow allows us to keep an eye out for the opportunities.

Leading With Flow

Keeping those following us motivated and doing their best is something we need to do as effective leaders. When we understand the characteristics that make up a Flow experience, we can help those working with us to find their own Flow experiences.

In the long run, this will lead to happier and satisfied followers who are continually looking for the growth opportunities that Flow activities produce.

Unfortunately, in our current business climate we get so focused on the short-term bottom line we tend to focus on those things that don’t allow for Flow.

When engaging those that work for us we tend to focus on what they can accomplish; how much and how fast. Many of our organizational change efforts lead to the big three: what we can produce cheaper, faster, and/or for greater profit.

When our focus is on how much and how fast we are actually inhibiting Flow, and the less opportunities for Flow activities we create in our organizations the less happy and satisfied our employees are.

Instead of focusing on how we get the most out of our employees, overburdening and overworking them, we need to focus on how to get the best out of them. We need to look at ways to change the work and work conditions to help provide opportunities for Flow experiences.

When folks are able to experience Flow on a regular basis they start to lose the notion of “work” so that what they’re doing no longer feels like “work”. When that happens, we end up with people around us that are open to growth and finding the best ways to accomplish what needs to be done.

And that leads to folks being satisfied and enjoying the work. Of course, satisfied and happy workers tend to lead to better results and more productivity; the same things we are after when we focus on the how much and how fast.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. As leaders we need to be able to not only find ways to create opportunities for our own Flow experiences, we also need to provide those same opportunities for those working with us.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: A Growth Opportunity
2. Characteristics of Flow: Balance Between Challenges and Skills
3. Characteristics of Flow: Clear Goals

This is the tenth in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice.

In the first article of the series, I talked about the idea of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and introduced the nine characteristics of a flow experience. This time I’d like to examine the ninth and final characteristic which is that the activity we are engaged in is an opportunity for growth.

What sets Flow experiences apart from other activities is that the experience is expansive; we grow in some way as an individual because of our participation.

This characteristic is really the determining factor of whether or not we’ve been experiencing Flow. Each of the other characteristics must be present as well, but there are times and activities where the previous characteristics that I’ve described are present, but the activity failed to be a growth opportunity.

Not a Flow Experience

For instance, if I go shopping at the supermarket, my goals are clear (I have a food list of what I need to buy) and the feedback is immediate (I’m able to cross items off the list that are in my basket). But unless I’m shopping in a new store that sells exotic foods I’ve never heard of before, this shopping activity is routine and not expansive.

Likewise, I may not be a professional car detailer, but if I’m washing my car and my skills at car washing match those needed to get it clean I will have a feeling of contentment (as opposed to frustration). I could work so hard at it that I concentrate completely on cleaning the car, blocking everything else out around me. I may even experience as sense of altered time. But again, the activity is routine and not expansive.

Backwards Activities

Many of the characteristics of Flow also show up in activities that are, shall we say, less than expansive. Flow generating activities share similar experiences with activities like drinking alcohol or taking drugs, gambling and watching TV. These types of activities can actually have the opposite effect of Flow, a sort of backwards effect. When we focus on the present moment while experiencing Flow we are able to get a break from our worries and troubles, much like we can from having a couple of drinks.

Gambling can have the same results. I was at a conference in Las Vegas last year and noticed many folks that were spending hours upon hours sitting in front of the same slot machine. I’m sure they were experiencing some of the characteristics of Flow, but they certainly weren’t growing as part of the experience. Watching television can have the same impact.

Flow Leads to Growth

Certainly these activities are enjoyable, which is one of the main reasons that we want to experience Flow. What makes Flow different is that the experience makes us more than we were previously. Csikszentmihalyi’s research has shown that when we experience Flow it dramatic increases our self-esteem and the more we are able to experience Flow the higher our self-esteem is overall.

When we participate in activities where the other eight characteristics are present and we learn new skills, gain new knowledge, or help someone else to become better, we are happier and more satisfied. We are experiencing Flow.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. The defining characteristic of Flow is that the activity must be something that is expansive; something that allows us to grow in some way as an individual.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: No Worry About Failure
2. Characteristics of Flow: The Present is What Matters Most
3. Characteristics of Flow: Deepened Concentration

This is the ninth in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice.

In the first article of the series, I talked about the idea of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi introduced the nine characteristics of a flow experience. This time I’d like to examine the eighth characteristic which is that there is a loss of ego. During a Flow experience we become so engrossed that we completely lose ourselves in the activity.

As I’ve mentioned previously, when we are participating in an activity that potentially leads to a Flow experience, we get deeply engrossed in the task at hand. The key to this is to focus on the present moment. As we do, we are in total control of ourselves and ignore what is going on around us and our problems.

As we are participating in an activity we have such an intense feeling of being in control of our performance that we are actually hypersensitive to what is going on with our minds and bodies. In this sense we are extremely aware of ourselves.

For instance, a pianist is acutely aware of her fingers, yet doesn’t have the need to control each movement, the notes just seem to come from her hand on their own. Similarly, when I’m writing I don’t have a need to control my fingers on the keyboard and the words just seem to flow on their own.

But there is a paradox that when we are in Flow. We have this extreme awareness of ourselves and yet we also tend to lose ourselves. I’m not talking here about losing our inhibitions and acting in a way that doesn’t seem like us. Rather, I’m talking about losing our sense of self, our aloneness.

In fact, we really aren’t losing anything. Instead we’re actually gaining an understanding that we are part of something larger than ourselves.

When we are experiencing Flow it is very much an individual feeling that we aren’t able to share with others. No matter how individual we like to think we are, we have a built-in need to be a part of something larger; a family, a group, a team, a tribe.

As we are experiencing Flow we lose our own ego to the point of feeling part of something greater than ourselves. This is what gives us the feeling of happiness and satisfaction, knowing that we are part of something more while performing individually at our best.

The feeling we get when we know that we part of something greater than ourselves allows us to start seeing others for who they are, not what they can do for us. Which is why Flow is so important for leaders to understand.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. When we participate in an activity that is generating Flow, we are extremely aware of our minds and bodies but we also lose ourselves. This gives us a greater understanding that we are part of something greater than ourselves.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: Clear Goals
2. Characteristics of Flow: Deepened Concentration
3. Characteristics of Flow: Altered Sense of Time

This is the eighth in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I’ll look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice.

In the first article of the series, I talked about the idea of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and introduced the nine characteristics of a flow experience. This time I’d like to examine the seventh characteristic which is that we have no worry about failure. When we are able to participate in an activity that provides us with a Flow experience, we are no longer worried about failing.

Activities that provide Flow experiences provide us with the opportunity to control our own actions. Our participation in these activities makes it so that we don’t need to question our own performance. We feel as though we are at the “top of our game”.

We Can Only Control Ourselves

We aren’t able to control the environment around us, things like whether it’s going to rain on us. We also don’t have control over what the actions of others are going to be, such as whether those around us be helpful or harmful to our pursuits.

When we are experiencing Flow, we find that we don’t need to be in control of the things going on around us. The reason for this is that we end up with an overwhelming feeling that we can’t fail.

This is actually a little too simplistic of an explanation. In reality, it’s not so much that we feel we can’t fail. It’s more that we feel in such total control of our own actions that we know that if nothing external gets in the way, we WILL succeed.

If something should come along and get in the way of our success, that’s ok too because we know that we have performed at our best and since we were able to experience Flow during the activity, we know that we have grown in the process.

We Need to Own Our Behavior

The lesson to being able to have a Flow experience is to take total control of our own situation; to “own” our behavior. No one can own our behavior but ourselves and when we are able to understand that, we are able to be in control of our performance in a given situation.

The reality is we can never really be in control of those things around us, so when we stop focusing on the external things and focus on ourselves, it makes the activity we are engaged in seem that much easier.

Keep in mind, that I’m not suggesting that when we are able to experience Flow we can’t fail because we certainly can. What I’m saying is that in these situations we are so focused on our own activity that it becomes about the activity and not about the outcome. We no longer worry about failing because it doesn’t matter to us.

When we become so focused on the activity in the present moment that the activity itself become what’s important and when we are in total control of our performance, we know we are doing our best. More times than not when we are able to do our best we succeed.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. When we participate in an activity that is generating Flow, we are no longer worrying about failing. We are so focused on our own performance that the activity itself becomes what is important and we give up trying to control the environment around us.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: Altered Sense of Time
2. Characteristics of Flow: Loss of Ego
3. Characteristics of Flow: Immediate Feedback

This is the seventh in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I’ll look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice.

In the first article of the series, I talked about the idea of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and introduced the nine characteristics of a flow experience. This time I’d like to examine the sixth characteristic which is that our sense of time is altered. When we are focused on the present moment and our engagement in an activity is complete we experience time differently.

We’ve all had the experience of feeling as though time wasn’t quite moving at it’s normal 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour pace. Remember being in grade school and waiting for the clock to strike 3:00 so that we could be free for the day? Those last 10 minutes seems to last an eternity. On the opposite end, how many times have we come back from lunch and started working only to find that it was after 5:00 and the day just “flew right by”?

So we understand what it feels like when our sense of time is altered. An altered sense of time is a key characteristic of Flow and the experience we are having will dictate our awareness of time.

Where did the time go?

Many times when we are having a Flow experience, our concentration and focus on the task at hand is so complete and we are so absorbed in the activity we fail to recognize that time has passed. This has a lot to do with being focused in the present moment. It’s because we are staying focused on the present that the passage of time actually becomes irrelevant.

When we are experiencing Flow we really don’t mind spending the “extra” time on an activity. When we do what we enjoy we want to keep doing it.

This happens to me often when I am writing. I’ll sit down to spend a half hour writing and find that three hours have passed because I was on a roll and the word just kept coming.

Time Expands

Some activities that create Flow have the opposite effect on our sense of time. Sometimes the experience is so intense that it feels as though we have lived a lifetime in a single moment. In times like this time actually feels as though it is expanding.

Race car drivers are famous for this experience because their reaction times are so amazingly fast. They are able to see a space in between other cars, decide to move into that space and make the move, all within a fraction of a fraction of a second. They experience that brief moment fully, in an expanded sort of way.

My greatest example of this expanding time experience was when my daughter as born. As the doctor started to raise her up, her head sort of flopped back and our eyes met for the briefest of seconds.

To this day, years later, I still remember this connection lasting much longer than second or two that it lasted. Probably because it was the moment that my life changed forever.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. When experiencing Flow we will have an altered sense of time. Sometimes this means that time will pass faster than we thought because we are so engaged in our activity. Other times it means that time will feel like it expands and our experience is greater than the short time we have actually been engaged in the activity.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: A Growth Opportunity
2. Characteristics of Flow: No Worry About Failure
3. Characteristics of Flow: Loss of Ego

This is the sixth in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I’ll look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice.

In the first article of the series, I talked about the idea of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and introduced the nine characteristics of a flow experience. This time I’d like to examine the fifth characteristic which is that the present is what matters most. When we are so engrossed in an activity that it captures our entire concentration, we can really only focus on the present and what is going on immediately around us.

When we are concentrating deeply on the task at hand, we are able to lose ourselves in the present moment. Because we are focusing so much on the present moment, we lose our capacity to think about those everyday things that occupy our minds throughout the day. By focusing on the present moment, we are using all of our thought capacity on the task at hand.

With no extra capacity available, we can no longer dwell on things that happened in the past or things that we are anticipating to happen in the future. In this way, Flow is kind of like what happens during meditation, but with Flow the purpose is action leading to growth as opposed to inaction leading to growth.

An Escape From Worries and Fears

This intense focus on the present moment admittedly allows us a sort of escape from our worries and fears; not unlike the escape we could get from alcohol, drugs or other escapist activities. Let’s face it if we have enough drinks, all the worries of the day just melt away.

But the thing is, these escapist activities only mask our worries and fears. When we focus on the present moment and it leads to a Flow experience we are able to move beyond our worries and fears.

Flow experiences come from growth activities and while we may be “escaping” from our daily worries and fears when we are focused on the present moment, we are also growing with the experience. With this growth comes the ability to move beyond our daily worries and fears as we move forward to new challenges and opportunities.

Staying Focused on the Present Moment

With all of the overwhelming demands on our time, it can be hard to stay focused on the present moment. In fact, it takes practice. But it can be done. The greatest period of growth in my life came a number of years ago. Looking back on this time it is somewhat remarkable. Something I still don’t fully understand.

For about a two-year period I was focused on my own personal development. I read a great number of books on the subject of personal development and leadership. Over a one year period I even listened to 106 books on tape during my commute to and from work.

As part of this personal development work, I practiced focusing on the present moment throughout the day and I got quite good at it. In fact, at some point I stop wearing a watch. All day long I would focus on who or what was in front of me. If I was having a conversation with someone, that was the most important thing going on and I focused completely on the conversation and the person I was with, effectively blocking out everything else.

Here is the amazing thing that I still can’t explain today: In the two years I went without wearing a watch (and not focusing on time) I was only late for a meeting once! I used to say that the most important place for me to be at any given time was where I was at that time. By believing that and focusing completely on the present moment I got into a rhythm with time and when it was time for me to move on to the next most important place to be I would be ready for it.

I still look back on this time as the most satisfying and happiest time of my life. Most of it has to with my consistent focus on the present moment which helped me to experience Flow on a fairly regular basis. The growth I was able to experience as an individual and as a leader continues to pay me dividends today.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. When we are able to stay focused on the present moment we have the opportunity to experience Flow. When we focus completely on the present moment, our capacity to dwell on our worries and fears that are based on what happened in the past or what we anticipate will happen in the future is greatly diminished.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: A Growth Opportunity
2. Characteristics of Flow: Altered Sense of Time
3. Characteristics of Flow: Deepened Concentration

This is the fifth in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I’ll look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice.

In the first article of the series, I talked about the idea of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and introduced the nine characteristics of a flow experience. This time I’d like to examine the fourth characteristic which is that our concentration deepens. When our participation in an activity leads us to concentrate so deeply that we start to lose sight of everything else around us, we have the opportunity to experience Flow.

Intense Focus

When we take part in an activity that is matched to our skills, that has clear goals and we are getting immediate feedback on our performance we tend to get more deeply involved in the activity, even if we don’t see it as “important”. This can really happen with any activity: reading, watching or playing sports, even washing the dishes. There are times that our concentration is so deep that it feels like we don’t even need to think about what we are doing, everything just seems to come to us automatically, even tasks that are difficult or even dangerous (Here I’m thinking about my time rock climbing).

But not every activity in which we lose ourselves will result in a Flow experience. That’s why Csikszentmihalyi has identified nine different characteristics that need to be present in order to experience Flow. Certainly deepened concentration is one of the big characteristics. When we do most tasks, our minds wander. We tend to think about everything under the sun while giving the slightest attention to our current task. Let’s face it, that’s why we think we are such great multitaskers, our “ability” to think about many things at the same time.

Multitasking is a Flow Stopper

This explains why we always seem so harried when we try to do more; when we try to do everything at once, instead of focusing on one thing at a time. It’s impossible to experience Flow when we try to multitask because when we multitask, we don’t have the capacity to concentrate deep enough on a given activity.

As I’ve said before when we are able to experience Flow, life is more engaging and enjoyable. Since we aren’t able to find Flow when we multitask, life will never be enjoyable if we insist on trying to focus on more than one thing at a time. So, I’ll say it this way: multitasking is the enemy of Flow. It is a definite Flow killer.

So, how do we get to the point where we are able to concentrate so deeply on an activity that we can produce Flow? The key is really being able to focus on the present. This is so important, that is it actually the sixth characteristic of Flow and I’ll talk more about it in the next article in this series. But to explain briefly, when we are able to focus on what is happening right now with the activity we are engaged in, everything else starts to fall away. The less distractions we have, the more focused we can be on the task at hand and the deeper our concentration becomes.

Sometimes we are able to fall into deep concentration no matter what is going on around us. Here I’m thinking about being engrossed in a book on a crowded train or in a loud airport. Other times, we need to find a quiet place to concentration fully.

In the past (when I actually worked in an office) I would leave the hubbub of the office and go to the library to work if I had an important report to write. I put myself in a physical space that allowed me to have no distractions and concentrate fully on the report I was writing.

When we find ourselves so focused on an activity that everything else seems to fall away we are so deeply concentrating on the task that it almost becomes automatic and effortless. This is when we have opened ourselves up to experience Flow.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. When we focus our attention on the activity we are engaged in, to the point where our concentration is completely on the task, we have the opportunity to experience Flow. When we try to multitask we aren’t able to have the level of focus and concentration we need to have a Flow experience.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: A Growth Opportunity
2. Characteristics of Flow: Loss of Ego
3. Have You Found Flow?

This is the fourth in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I’ll look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice.

In the first article of the series, I talked about the idea of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and introduced the nine characteristics of a flow experience. This time I’d like to examine the third characteristic which is that there needs to be a balance between our challenges and our skills. In order to find Flow, we need to find the sweet spot between our skills and the challenge of the activity we are participating in. When the challenge of the activity matches our ability to do that activity we have the opportunity to experience Flow.

I’m Bored!

We usually like things that we’re good at because it’s always more enjoyable to do things we do well. But sometimes we can have too much of good thing. Sometimes we find the task at hand boring because there is no challenge in it; our skills are much higher than required for the task. When we find ourselves in an activity where we aren’t challenged we don’t enjoy the activity as much because of the boredom factor. In order to experience Flow during situations like this, we’ll need to increase the challenge of the activity to more closely match our skills.

My first job during high school was working in a bank doing bulk coin deposit verification. Drivers from several vending companies would bring deposits to me of the money taken from their vending machine routes. I would count the coins and dollar bills to verify the amounts they were depositing. It was a pretty boring job to do day in, day out. So, I created what I saw as a game. I started to track all of the deposits by coin type, vendor and day. I kept all of this information in a spreadsheet. But remember, this is back in the day when spreadsheets were kept on wide green ledger sheets. Adding this additional tracking of information allowed me to change the job to more closely align the challenge with my skills.

This actually paid off over a year later. My girlfriend at the time (now my wife) also worked for the bank and had just gotten a $.50 / hour raise and I had only gotten $.25. I took all of my information and turned it into a report that I sent to management. They were surprised to learn that I handled $1 million worth of coin deposits in the previous year. They previously had no idea. It got me the additional $.25 / hour!

I Can’t Do This!

Sometimes we are engaged in an activity where our skills are no match for the challenge. We just don’t have the skills we need to accomplish the task. In situations like these, we have trouble finding Flow because we are constantly anxious about completing an activity that we know or think we can’t do.

At this point, we only have two options. We can find a way to change the activity so that our skills match the challenge, but this isn’t always possible. The more likely option is to increase our skills. That’s how we learn. We encounter a challenging task that we don’t quite have the skills to accomplish and we go out and learn what we need while we’re doing the activity. By increasing our skills we not only learn something new, but we become less anxious as we feel more confident in our ability to complete the task.

In this situation, the most important thing is to not allow the anxiety of not feeling confident in our skills make us shut down and back away from the challenge presented by the task. Once we can get passed the anxiety, the learning of new skills can begin. As we are able to gain new skills that are more in balance with the challenge of the activity, we are in a better position to be able to experience Flow.

Finding opportunities to match our skills to the challenges that lie before us is essential to finding Flow. But many times we don’t have this balance between the challenge of the activity and our skills. This imbalance is an opportunity for us to grow. When our skills are greater than the challenge, we can find ways to increase the challenge which allows us to find new ways to use our skills. When we don’t have the skills required to complete an activity, we can learn new skills which allow us to be more competent and able to do more that we could previously.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. If our skills match the challenge of the activity we are engaged in, we have found the sweet spot that will allow us to have a Flow experience. When our skills don’t match the challenge, we have an opportunity to grow as we seek Flow.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: A Growth Opportunity
2. Characteristics of Flow: Deepened Concentration
3. Have You Found Flow?

This is the third in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I’ll look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice.

In a previous article, I talked about the idea of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and introduced the nine characteristics of a flow experience. This time I’d like to discuss the second characteristic which is that we get immediate feedback to our actions.

How am I doing?

Most times when we do something, the results of our efforts are not immediately known. Especially when we are doing our jobs day in and day out. We sit at our desks, working away doing the daily work that we’re paid for. But we usually have to wonder: Am I doing a good job? A crappy job? Is what I’m doing making the world a better place? A worse place?

Flow experiences share the characteristic that there is immediate feedback to the activity we are engaged in. We don’t have to wait to know the results of our actions and therefore we’re able to make any necessary corrections on the fly.

For instance, if I’m writing the next great American novel and I’ve put the main characters into a dilemma, I know immediately if it fits with the storyline and my words flow as I write. This allows me to eventually get them out of the dilemma and on with their lives.

Great football quarterbacks are able to see the whole field, watch the play unfold and immediately be able to adjust where the ball needs to be thrown. Race car drivers are immediately able to feel what a slight over steering into a corner has done to their momentum and are able to correct and adjust as they go into the same corner the next time around the track.

When we are in Flow we are able to get feedback immediately to what we’re doing which allows us to analyze, adjust, and keep moving forward with our activity. If we have to sit around and wait for feedback on what we have done, we lose momentum. Many times this loss of momentum will cause us to second guess and question our actions. This momentum is important to sustaining a Flow experience.

This is one time where thinking of Flow like a stream or river is appropriate. When we get immediate feedback, we are able to change our course, like a stream moving around a rock. If our momentum is stalled because we have to wait for feedback, our activity becomes like a river that has been dammed. Our Flow experience grinds to a halt.

When we are trying to create an opportunity to experience Flow, we should be looking for activities where we are able to get immediate feedback. We can help ourselves by preparing our activities ahead of time and making sure that we are able to get the immediate feedback we’ll need. This means designing the activity in such a way as to remove any requirement to need feedback from others.

Much like the Flow characteristic of having clear goals, when we are able to get continuous, immediate feedback to our actions we are able keep our engagement in the activity uninterrupted.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. Having immediate, continuous feedback for our activities is needed to experience Flow. When we are able to get this feedback, it helps our Flow experience to be uninterrupted.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: A Growth Opportunity
2. Characteristics of Flow: Clear Goals
3. Characteristics of Flow: No Worry About Failure

This is the second in a series of articles about Flow. In each of the articles I’ll look more closely at Flow, each of the individual characteristics, and how we can use Flow in our leadership practice.

In my first post of the series, I talked about the idea of Flow as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and introduced the nine characteristics of a flow experience. This time I’d like to discuss the first characteristic which is that the goals for the activity are clear.

When we are seeking an activity that produces a Flow experience, one of the things we are looking for is an activity that has clear goals. I’m not necessarily talking about the ultimate, big overarching goal; though having a clear ultimate goal is certainly important. Instead, I’m talking about having clear steps that need to be taken along the way towards the ultimate goal. It’s these clear little steps along the way that allow us to sustain a Flow experience.

For instance, if I have a goal of writing the next great american novel, holding out the ultimate goal of finishing the novel may be a motivating factor. But it is the steps along the way that will help me to produce a Flow experience. So, maybe my goal today is to write five or ten or fifty pages or maybe it’s just to get the main characters out of the predicament that I left them in yesterday. As I work towards and ultimately through that goal, I set another goal and another and so on. This act of setting and meeting goals helps to generate Flow.

Another example comes from when I was a rock climber. For me the essence of rock climbing wasn’t always about being at the top of the cliff, it was the getting to the top. Friends and family used to ask how I could be a rock climber and afraid of heights. The answer is related to finding Flow experiences. When I was on the rock, I was totally focused on the six or eight feet of rock immediately in front of me and how I was going to move up past this section. Looking for Flow in your activities is the same, focusing on the immediate step right in front of you and moving on to the next when you have completed it.

When we are experiencing Flow we always know what needs to be done and we do it. There is no ambiguity in what needs done. A basketball player knows that the free throw is needed and how to do it.

When we are engaged in activities where we have to keep starting and stopping to get clarification, the flow of the activity gets interrupted and we won’t be able to have a Flow experience. So the first key to being able to find Flow in any activity is having a clear understanding of not only what our ultimate goal is, but making sure that the steps we need to take along the way are also clearly defined. This way our engagement in the activity is continuous.

Leader’s Reflection: When we are able to experience Flow on a regular basis we are able to live a happy and satisfying life. When we are able to experience Flow in our everyday work we find the work more satisfying. Flow experiences start with making sure that we have clear goals for any activity. But not just having clear ultimate goals, but also clearly identifying the steps needed along the way.

You also might be interested in:

1. Characteristics of Flow: Immediate Feedback
2. Characteristics of Flow: A Growth Opportunity
3. Characteristics of Flow: Deepened Concentration