Peak Performance and Flow
When we are in the state of Flow, we perform at our peak
FLIGBY shows the relation between peak performance and flow. This is the official Flow-program for decision-makers developed by Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and ALEAS Simulations.
Flow is a mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment. Flow, creativity, and happiness are related.
Experiencing Flow at regular intervals is the difference between a great team and just any team. It is the difference between outstanding performance and adequate performance. It is the difference between a fantastic day at work and just a good day at work. Facilitating Flow is a necessary condition of good leadership and is vital in sustaining business performance. Not only do our productivity levels soar, but we experience a deep sense of satisfaction. Work becomes a source of enjoyment.
“Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. The happiest people spend much time in a state of flow – the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at a high cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.
The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”
Prof. Csikszentmihalyi on Flow
Benefits of Flow-promoting Leadership
The greater the Flow in an organization – that is, the greater the number of key employees in that state – the better the unit’s performance. Evidence shows that adopting Flow-promoting values and practices yields two substantial benefits, whether the context is managing oneself, interacting with others, or leading a team.
The first benefit comes from improving the life satisfaction of the self and those exposed, directly or indirectly. The second benefit of a Flow-promoting environment is that it improves the multi-dimensional performance of the individual, the team, the unit, or the organization. Multi-dimensional performance means measuring accomplishments not only via profits (in the case of not-for-profit entities, “surplus”) but also by developing personal satisfaction and engagement, sustainability of operations, and protection of the environment.