Optimal experiences and flow are states that are often left to chance. One of the important ideas from Flow is these states should not be left to chance and that they can be created and fostered. Instead of can, consider should. In Flow, the author has argued, successfully that our happiness depends on achieving flow. The world around us does not always play along. One of the prerequisites of flow discussed in Chapter 4 was the need for minimizing distractions. Simply put, the potential for optimal experience is increased when we find or create a quiet space. One example of an anti-flow environment (the world is not playing along) is the open office movement of the last 20 years. This movement reflects an overweighting of the concept of collaboration over individual optimal experience and flow. We all know there is a problem; many people actively take countermeasures. Noise-canceling headphones or cramped, poorly ventilated privacy rooms are poor substitutes (this was also discussed in our re-read of Deep Work). We need to find the right balance because flow and optimal experience foster the growth of capabilities and capacity. In an organizational parlance that is code for increased productivity and value.
Our re-read has focused on flow from the point of view of the working world, however, flow is not just a “work thing.” Csikszentmihalyi emphasizes that optimal experience and flow are an integral part of the human experience. When considering Flow across the whole human experience a close relationship with stoic principles can be established. Examples include:
The Stoic practice of virtue and living by reason which includes a core of self-discipline supports creating scenarios where optimal experience and flow occur. The Cal Newport highlighted the relationship in Deep Work (another Re-read).
The Stoic principles of self-reflection and introspection cultivate self-awareness and self-improvement which are part of the cycle of growth required to continually raise the bar. Without raising the bar, optimal experiences and flow would be one and done experiences.
Stoic indifference to external goods such as wealth, fame, and social status while prizing internal goods such as virtue and wisdom focuses people on what is within their control. Internal “good” are under your control providing the impetus to tackle hard problems which are at the core of flow scenarios.
Similarly, the Stoic principles of endurance and learning help an individual to accept difficulties as opportunities for growth and learning.
The discussion of Stoic Principles represents a bit of foreshadowing. The next book in the Re-read Saturday series will be How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci (buy a copy and read along). We are diverting into the world of philosophy. I hope the Re-read Saturday readers will continue to be engaged,
A side note.
Flow was originally published in 1990 (probably written in the late-80’s). As an author, I have often wondered how people will relate to the social context embedded in my writings. The world’s context at the time they are writing colors an author’s thoughts and is often directly represented in examples. From the vantage of 2024, there were several times that I had to remind myself of the book’s timeframe. While drugs and television are significant distractors today, at an individual level the internet has supplanted television as the distractor in chief. If Marx we writing now he might claim that TikTok or Facebook were the opiate of the masses. In terms of the television, one screen has been for an even more insidious screen. The examples used in books provide a way to see the evolution of our world as the arrow of time progresses.
Buy a copy and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb
Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU
Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg
Week 3: Consciousness – https://bit.ly/4bEu3pN
Week 4: Enjoyment and The Quality of Life – https://bit.ly/4eeknDQ
Week 5: The Conditions Of Flow
Week 6: The Body In Flow
Week 7: The Flow Of Thought
Week 8: Work As Flow
Week 9: Enjoying Solitude and Other People
Week 10: Cheating Chaos
Week 11: Making of Meaning
