Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning

Artists, when describing the act of painting a masterpiece, will often claim that they felt "lost" in their work. Likewise, a basketball player may describe the experience of setting up the winning play as having an altered perception of time, as if twelve seconds actually extended for hours. When we are truly engaged and at the highest states of enjoyment, we experience the freedom of complete absorption in activity. Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi, Professor of Psychology at Claremont Graduate University, first coined the term "flow" in 1975 to describe this experience, and has written several books about the concept including the bestseller Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience in 1990. Through a series of interviews with successful business leaders who combine high achievement with strong moral commitment, Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning explores the connection between flow and work. Csikszentmihalyi claims that our jobs have a significant influence on the quality of our lives. He explains that happiness is not something that happens to us, but rather is something we make happen. As such, work can be one of the most fulfilling aspects of life, provided that employees have an opportunity to do their best and to contribute to something greater than themselves. He makes a profound distinction between the concepts of pleasure and enjoyment: pleasure is a conservative force that makes us want to satisfy existing needs and does not foster change, whereas enjoyment is not always pleasant, and can be sometimes stressful. Csikszentmihalyi describes enjoyment as the sensation of being fully alive, triumphing over the forces of entropy and decay. A mountain climber, for example, who is utterly exhausted after an dangerous climb but who wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world than at the peak of a mountain, perhaps does not experience pleasure, but does experience enjoyment. Likewise, while relaxing in a hammock at the beach may be pleasurable, it cannot compare to the exhilaration and "flow" felt by the mountain climber. Similarly, an employee who holds a demanding and stressful position may not experience pleasure on the job, but for some, the challenge presented by the work is often enjoyable and can lead to "flow." For others, however, a demanding job may be overwhelming and may be experienced as drudgery, not enjoyment. Csikszentmihalyi explores characteristics that are common to organizations that support flow. Csikszentmihalyi claims that leaders of organizations can actively create conditions to ensure that every employee has an opportunity to fully develop and express their potentialities and as a result experience flow. He explains that clear goals, good feedback, and incremental challenges are important factors that facilitate employee growth. First, goals must be clear both on an organizational and individual level. An employee must not only embrace the goals for the organization, he/she must

Mihaly is a psychologist and a great author. The present book builds upon his previous book "Flow". Where "Flow" is highly philosophical and little bit difficult to comprehend, the "Good Business" is much easier to go through and understand. The book is about creating meaningful jobs where employees can experience flow and thus happiness. Flow is a situation where one is deeply involved in what ever one is doing. Such experiences not only generate job satisfaction at one hand, but on the other hand they also lead to better financial performance of organizations. But most organizations tend to promote profitability at the expense of employee happiness and well being. This book presents a guideline as to how our jobs should be designed and how the future businesses should be run. It's a great thought provoking book a must read for any one who is seeking to explore the relationship between work and satisfaction.

The premise of the book is that our jobs are a primary component in our life and that when we are happy in our work we are the most productive and of the most value to our business.Mihaly reviews the concept of "flow" from his earlier studies which is a state where we fully utilize our skills and capabilities and how we are able to reach that state and what inhibits us from reaching it. We also learn about our own development stages and how we improve through the combination ofrealizing our uniqueness and by valuing human relationships.This book teaches us about good leadership qualities and how we (being led) can find satisfaction in our work.Organizational leaders must clarify the goals of a business and ensure it is well communicated.Three levers are available to managers to enable flow and create a great organization: make the environment attractive and comfortable; imbuing jobs with meaning and value; and by rewarding individuals who find satisfaction in their work.Flow presents opportunity (such as finding more satisfaction) and challenge (as in the case of changing a job that sucks the life out of people).Innovation is seen as repeatable through flow - but certain practices must be met such as: stay away from micro managing people; let people know the problems that need to be solved; and how to set and achieve performance goals (prioritizing tasks throughout a company has the effect of ensuring a companywon't meet its goals).An outline of the conditions for flow:1) Clear goals - you know your tasks and have the appropriate skill2) Immediate feedback - you understand the effect of your efforts3) Balance opportunity with capacity - you always learn to seek opportunity4) Concentration - don't over think (remember the old 'Inner Tennis' books?)5) The present is what matters - you exist in the 'now'6) Control is no problem - you become immersed in the work7) Time is altered - you 'slip through the cracks in time'8) Loss of ego - you focus on giving not taking or defendingThis book is a quick first read and will inspire thought, take the opportunity to read it.It is more than a great business book - it is also a book about life.

A brilliant work taking the author's concept of FLOW and applying it specifically to work and business. The approach may have been taken previously ... though never so well or so clearly. There are practical, concrete matters addressed as well as the overall psychology of FLOW. It quickly becomes clear why some employees stagnate in their work, even though they may be highly skilled. There is much that business owners, managers and leaders can take away to enhance their own lives, the lives of their employees and of society on the whole. And the not-so-surprising outcome of these endeavors is greater success for individuals and for the business.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the Hungarian-born writer of the bestseller Flow. This professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Chicago has been studying this concept of Flow for many years and has written several interesting books, among which Flow (1990) and Finding Flow (1997). Now he has written a new book: Good Business. It turns out to be just the book I hoped he would write: a book about Flow and work. =WORK CAN CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR WELL-BEING!= Although many people view work primarily negatively, it can actually contribute importantly to your well-being, more so than gaining more and more possessions. And because work is so important, it is vital that managers and employees create conditions in which good work can happen. But what is good work? It is enjoying doing your best while at the same time contributing to something beyond yourself. Csikszentmihalyi explains how this can be achieved through two processes: 1) experiencing flow and 2) growth toward complexity. What precisely do these two things mean? 1. Experiencing Flow In situations of flow, tasks demand the full involvement of the person. In these situations there is a perfect balance between the challenge of the task and the skills of the person. The so-called 'flow channel' represents optimal experience, where both challenges and skills lie above the average level. More challenge than skill leads to arousal, anxiety, or worry. More skill than challenge leads to control, relaxation, or boredom. Flow depends on eight conditions: 1) goals are clear, 2) feedback is immediate, 3) a balance between opportunity and capacity, 4) concentration deepens, 5) the present is what matters, 6) control is no problem, 7) the sense of time is altered, 8) the loss of ego. 2. Growth Toward Complexity People flourish when in their activities there is a trajectory of growth that results in the development of increasing emotional, cognitive and social complexity. With complexity two processes happen at once: a) DIFFERENTIATION: realizing that we are unique individuals, responsible for our own survival and well being, b) INTEGRATION: the realization that however unique we are, we are also part of a larger whole. Conclusion: Regularly experiencing flow plus growing toward complexity are the ingredients of good work. But what about the 'happy' part? How can it be that pleasurable activities, products and relaxation are less important for happiness than the hard work of flow and complexity? =PLEASURE VERSUS ENJOYMENT = Csikszentmihalyi contrasts pleasure with enjoyment. He explains pleasure is nice but also conservative and leading to equilibrium while enjoyment is like happiness in action leading to greater skills. Enjoyment leads to a "triumph over the forces of entropy" and is like building psychological capital. Too bad that our materialistic and marketing-dominated culture emphasizes the importance of pleasure over enjoyment, since enjoyment is far more likely to lead to long te