This article is written by a Flow Graduate
Why waste our one precious life by spending the majority of our waking hours at work feeling unhappy and unfulfilled? The unfortunate reality is that many organisations are simply not living up to their potential as places for human flourishing. Recent studies reveal that 71% of employees in Australia are disengaged at work (Gallup, 2023). Furthermore 53% Australian workers are feelingburnout and 48% are planning to look for a new role within the next 12 months (Hero, 2022). These statistics merely confirm what we already know: the traditional work paradigm is broken. As renowned psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi observed “at work we suffer from abuse of power, bureaucracy, politics; from incentives for competition, fear and low morale; and from a host of other ills that keep us from collaborating effectively. Pigeonholed in jobs that do not allow for growth and use of skills, people slack in their work and hate what they have to do.” (van den Hout & Davis, 2019).
Despite the significant shitis in innovation and technology in all areas of our lives, the operating system running most businesses have scarcely evolved since the Industrial Revolution, leaving our experience of work stuck firmly in the past. Research has proven happiness at work brings many benefits such as beter performance, higher productivity, increased creativity and higher organisational citizenship behaviour (Oswald, 2009). Happy workers show up at work on time, take fewer sick days, help their colleagues and generally get along beter with coworkers and supervisors (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2012). What we need is an alternative approach to improving organisational life and flow is precisely the DNA for such a transformation.
Flow is the experience of being completely absorbed in the task at hand, acting and performing effortlessly. A sense that everything is as it is meant to be and being carried effortless to a pinnacle of human flourishing and performance. However, flow should not be mistaken for a state that is elusive, or as uncommon as one might imagine. A poem by W. H. Auden helps encapsulate our experience of flow at work:
You need not see what someone is doing To know if it is his vocation, you only have to watch his eyes: a cook mixing a sauce, a surgeon making a primary incision, a clerk completing a bill of lading, wearing the same rapt expression, forgetting themselves in the function. How beautiful it is, that eye-on-the-object look.
Through awareness and application flow can revolutionise our everyday experiences at work. Indeed, this paper will explore how flow research gives us a holistic framework to transform organisations into places of happiness, fulfillment and achievement.
Before we delve into how to create a flow organisation it crucial to understand that organisations are complex adaptive systems, continually evolving and interconnected. Traditional methods of organisational change, often applied through a narrow lens of expertise, fall short in addressing this complexity. This paper suggests a three-pronged approach for integrating flow into organisations.
Firstly, focusing on 'The Self’ as a lens for self-reflection and personal development. Second, 'The Team' as a lens for collaborative shared experiences to fulfil a common purpose. Finally, 'The Organisation’ lens for changes to the systems and structures that shape how people behave, interact, and pursue their contributions.
THE SELF LENS
For organisations to transform individual growth is imperative. After all, it’s impossible for an organisation’s potential to exceed the developmental level of its people. In this context coaching can serve as a primary instrument for fostering personal and professional growth. As defined by John Whitmore, coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance (Whitmore, 1992). The notion is straightforward; if professional athletes depend on coaching to excel, why shouldn’t other professionals seeking to thrive in their domain do the same?
A proven methodology for individual development is ‘The Pathway to Flow’, developed by The Flow Centre. This framework centres on three core elements – Self Leadership, Self-Regulation and Self- Actualisation. The first, Self-Leadership focuses on motivation, resilience and the optimal level of challenge. The second area of Self-Regulation hones in on the distractions and conflicts that prevent us from achieving flow, including our thoughts, feelings and emotions. Finally, Self-Actualisation lets individuals fall into their fullest potential and experience flow on a regular basis.
To leverage this coaching methodology, organisations will need to adopt what Robert Kegan and LisaLahey call a 'Deliberately Developmental Organisation'(Kegan & Lahey, 2016). Such an organisation serves as an incubator for people’s development and ‘The Pathway to Flow’ can act as its guiding framework. Initially, external qualified flow coaches can help provide coaching in the organisation, transitioning responsibilities to trained internal coaches over time. Moreover, coaching should be a choice rather than an imposition. Best results are achieved when employees self-select for coaching experiences.
Success, however, hinges on the commitment of the organisation’s leadership. Citing Albert Einstein,“problems cannot be solved with the same level of consciousness that created them.” Therefore, the leader’s own cognitive development and shift in approach are pivotal. Only then can an organisation navigate the new challenges and transform the organisation into a place for human flourishing and high performance.
THE TEAMS LENS
Why should organisations prioritise teams? The answer is simple: teams act as the foundational building blocks for an organisation, fostering both human flourishing and high performance. When people work in small teams of trusted colleagues, have all the resources and power to make decisions and feel they are needed, extraordinary things begin to happen. But what is the catalyst for an effective team? The answer is Team Flow.
Understanding Team Flow
Team Flow is a shared experience in which all team members are completely involved in theircollaboration towards a gratifying yet challenging common purpose. During the moment of optimal collaboration, they perceive adequate abilities to cope with the challenging situation and have the feeling that their collaboration runs smoothly, effortlessly and forward. Work produced during team flow-experiences tendsto be more creative and of high quality and there is more satisfaction and positive emotion from the accomplishment (van den Hout & Davis, 2019).
Csikszentmihalyi observes “surgeons say that during a difficult operation they have the sensation that the entire operating team is a single organism, moved by the same purpose; they describe it as a ‘ballet’ in which the individual is subordinated to the group performance and all involved share in a feeling of harmony and power.” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Keith Sawyer a pioneer in the study of shared flow experiences further explains that group flow as a collective state arising when a team operates at the peak of its abilities (Sawyer, 2003).
The Framework for Team Flow
Jef van den Hout's Team Flow Model provides a roadmap for encouraging flow within teams. This model comprises 11 elements, segmented into prerequisites and emergent traits. The prerequisites include Collective Ambition, the central nucleus that unites the
team. Secondly a well-articulated Common Goal that supports each team member to understand their role and contribution. Thirdly Alignment of Personal Goals, ensuring a mutually beneficial experience for everyone. Fourth is High Skill Integration, whereby tasks are allocated according to individual skills, creating a balanced set of challenges. Fitih is Open Communication, which fosters shared mental models and establishing clear feedback mechanisms. Finally, Mutual Commitment is a collaborative effort toward achieving the collective goal.
Once these elements are in place, specific Team Flow characteristics emerge that foster human flourishing and high performance. These include a Sense of Unity, as team members become deeply engaged in team dynamics; a Sense of Joint Progress, marked by seamless, effortless cooperation; Mutual Trust, characterized by implicit faith in each other's abilities; and a Psychologically Safe Environment that minimises the fear of failure. Lastly, come Holistic Focus as all team members concentrate fully on the common goal.
Implementing Team Flow
To embark on a journey towards Team Flow, organisations can initiate a diagnostic assessment to gauge the current state of flow within their teams. Data gathering through observations and interviews can pinpoint areas for improvement. For organisations with multiple teams, choosing one as a pilot, or learning incubator can help generate early momentum. A Flow Coach can help perform an in-depth Team Flow diagnostic to assess existing conditions and suggest targeted interventions.
By focusing on creating the conditions that enable Team Flow, organisations will see improvements in peoples experience at work and overall team performance.
THE ORGANISATION LENS
While fostering individual and flow is important, becoming a Flow Organisation necessitates a broader systemic approach. W. E. Demmings is famed for saying that 94% of problems in business are system-driven and only 6% are people driven, underscoring the need to consider organisation- wide strategies to foster flow experiences. A growing number of organisations like Microsoft, Gallup, Patagonia and Toyota have already started aligning their work and culture with the principles of flow with great success (School, 2013).
The Concept of Autotelic Experiences
A novel question for any organisation to ask is how it might design systems that encourage autotelic experiences. These are times where individuals are internally driven and find the activity itself rewarding (Biasuti, 2011). Autotelic experiences synergise well with flow states, fulfilling our psychological needs including autonomy, competence and relatedness (Ryan, 2000). To integrate autotelic principles into organisational design, a review of existing systems and structures is necessary to identify what impedes human flourishing and high performance.
Three-Step Approach to System Design
Aaron Dignan provides a pragmatic three-step approach to improving an organisation system in his book, Brave New Work (Dignan, 2019). The first step involves sensing existing tensions within the organisational system and recognising the gap between the current state and an ideal future state. The second step entails finding improved practices that align with the basic psychological needs of team members including autonomy, competence and relatedness (Ryan, 2000). At this stage, engaging a Flow Practitioner can be valuable in guiding the organisation to develop these practices. Finally, once a new practice is agreed upon, real-world experiments are conducted to test their efficacy. By focusing on systemic change, organisations can create a conducive environment for flow experiences, which in turn contributes to human flourishing and high performance.
CONCLUSION
Humans deserve the fullest possibility to unlock their potential, apply their unique talents in meaningful ways and working together with others to feel a sense of connection and belonging. Achieving this ideal withinorganisations has long been a challenge, yet the conceptof flow offers a promising solution. As covered,when flow is intentionally designedinto individual development, team dynamics and organisational systems both human flourishing and high performance become attainable goals. Csikszentmihalyi reminds us that “contrary to what we usually believe the best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times.” Therefore, let’s seize the opportunity that work providesto create such enriching experiences. By focusing on flow, we can transform organisations into happy, fulfilling places where people can be at their best.
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