by John Brooker | Jan 4, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate
Yes! And… Creative Gorilla # 4 How might you increase motivation in your organisation by creating flow? We’re in Flow “It’s a Zen feeling, like meditation or concentration. One thing you’re after is when things become automatic… somehow the right thing is done without your ever thinking about it or doing anything at all… it just happens and you are more concentrated.” Rock climber, quoted in Good Business: Leadership, Flow and the Making of Meaning by Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi (“chick SENT me high”). Have you ever felt a similar kind of feeling to that described in the quotation above? Either at work or whilst pursuing a hobby? Csikzentihalyi describes this feeling as flow, which occurs when both challenges and skills are high and equal to each other. I was on holiday in Brittany and reading Csikzentmihalyi’s book (a bit sad, reading business books on holiday!). His description was brought home to me when we watched a Breton band (bagpipes, drums and pipes) in the local square. They were brilliant, really lively music played very well, but I was most struck by their conductor. A small stocky lady, she would conduct when the band played a particularly difficult piece and her conducting was a performance in itself… She conducted with her legs, torso and elbows (you had to be there) and it worked brilliantly, every instrument stopping and starting on time and in beat. As she conducted, she seemed to be transported; a beaming smile on her face. As I watched I thought, “she’s in flow” and the whole band seemed to be in it too. A memorable evening. Cziksentmihalyi states...
