WHAT MAKES AN ORGANIZATION, 'FLOW'?

Remember the time when you were so engrossed in activity that you forgot the existence of the world around you? Like when you lost track of time while reading a book, when you were playing that video game and forgot to eat, or when you were so absorbed in a sport that afterward you couldn’t really remember the details? Well there is a word for it – Flow! Flow means being so involved in a task that nothing else matters. The doer when in a state of ‘flow’, also known as the zone, finds the task at hand enjoyable and relatively effortless as if every action arises seamlessly from the last. And what more, when you are in the zone, you over(flow) with productivity!

The concept of flow was introduced by positive psychologist Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi (me-hi chick-sent-me-hi) who was a prisoner in World War 2 and witnessed a lot of suffering. This sparked curiosity in him about what makes people happy. He concluded that happiness is an internal state that takes committed effort and can be increased. He found that experience of ‘flow’ can help enhance happiness, creativity and productivity in individuals. According to him, flow has 8 characteristics:

•  Complete concentration – being thoroughly engrossed, absorbed, and engaged.
• Clarity of goals & immediate feedback – you constantly know what to do for the desired outcome.
• Altered perception of time – isn’t time a man-made construct anyway?
•  Intrinsically rewarding – like an instant return on investment.
•  Effortlessness –the work feels smooth like butter!
• Balance between perceived challenge and skills – allow me to demonstrate graphically.

Image by Blinkist via Pinterest

• Merging of action and awareness – no room for worry, distraction or self-criticism here!
• Feeling of control over the task – not domination, but a relaxed Zen-like control.

It is important to note here that the capacity for flow varies. People who are intrinsically motivated, have high interest in life, high persistence and low self-centeredness experience more flow than others. Regardless, flow flows in a cycle which begins with a struggle to setup, then a release of tension for acceptance of challenge, followed by the experience of flow and finally recovery through storing of the flow experience.

Image by Donnamarie Jurick via Medium

FLOW IN ORGANIZATONS

A 10 year long study conducted by McKinsey found that top level executives mentioned being five times more productive when in flow and if we spend even 15-20% more in flow, our productivity will double. That means, if you can spend even one day in flow, you will get more work done than others in a whole week! Fun fact – even organizations can be considered as entities that experience flow! It can be described as a state between complete chaos and paralyzing structure where you get optimized results as shown in the image below.

Image by Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi via Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology

Irrespective of whether the flow is personal or organizational, research shows that it leads to happiness and a happy entity in turn is 12% more productive than an average entity. However, since happiness is often misunderstood as something that can be gained from external things, organizations end up wrongly focusing on providing employees with material benefits rather than the betterment of the job itself. However, the notion of ‘paradox of work’ makes people report that they may experience more flow at work but more happiness at leisure. This is because of biases of negative activation (read stress) that make us perceive work as less enjoyable despite flow, and at the same time make us associate leisure with well-being.

Image by J. L. Westover via MrLoveStein

Flow was also found to influence other areas for work. For instance, employees who experience flow are more likely to exhibit organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Interestingly, flow has also been studied with respect to learning and development. It was found that creation of flow experiences can be incorporated into learning systems to enhance quality of employee learning. Moreover, elements like sports, music and art are found to be highly instrumental in enabling individual’s overall propensity to experience flow. Therefore, incorporating these elements into training can greatly enhance learning, happiness and ultimately productivity.

HOW CAN WE CULTIVATE FLOW?

Meaningful and engaging work from flow fuels professional achievements and a sense of fulfillment. Organizations can facilitate higher flow in the employees using the following strategies:

•  Ensure Work Life Balance – work related flow depends on both, personal and organizational resources. It’s time to leave employees alone on weekends/after hours and have email amnesty.
•  Enhance Belongingness – teams at work must be caring, trustworthy, united, progress jointly and communicate well in order for them to experience collective flow. Focus groups are the way to flow.
• Encourage Autonomy – give employees enough space to engage in personal activities, flexible hours, work from home and other job crafting options.  No freedom, no flow!
•  Affirm Competence – provide timely recognition to employees for their work and more challenging opportunities from time to time. A little appreciation can go a long way.
• Provide Environmental Triggers –Make every task a high stake one, but allow enough space to fail, provide focus rooms, encourage competition and incentivize risks - there you have the flow-rmula!
•  Provide Psychological Triggers – it’s important that the employees perceive a task as challenging and themselves as skilled, only then will they have the confidence to go with the flow!

Some companies such as Facebook and Google have successfully implemented some of these elements, while others like Toyota and Patagonia have made flow a part of their philosophy. Either way, it is important to assess the extent of flow in the organization in order to determine how it can be improved. Some of the tools that can be used for the same are - The Short Flow in Work Scale by Moneta and The Flow Scale for Occupational Tasks by Yoshida and Daisuke. If you find your organization lacking in flow it could be due to several reasons such as high levels of stress and burnout, multitasking, distracting work environment etc. Restructuring the business around flow means radically altering their functioning and shifting emphasis from mechanics to deep human engagement. Not many companies are up for this challenge, are you?

Nivya Raghunandan
thoughts@kaleidoscope.org.in