Chapter 7 of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow is titled, “Work As Flow.” Work is one of the largest single blocks of time adults carve out of their 168 hours of breath in a week. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi states. “Work that requires skill and is done freely refines the complexity of self.” Flow is the result of this refinement, at the least the potential for optimal experience from work. Juxtaposition work generates opportunities for flow with work which is the energy used to realize someone else’s dreams, hopes, and ambitions. This is not a formula for optimal experience and flow.
The author uses the term autotelic as an adjective as he defines the personality and job design for optimal flow. Autotelic is defined as having a purpose in and not apart from itself. The idea of an autotelic job might be hard to swallow without a personality with a fascination for discovery and learning skills. The author provides a formula for positioning people and work to achieve optimal experiences, stating that a person will be better able to achieve flow through:
- developing skills,
- focusing on the activity at hand, and
- allowing themselves to be lost in the interaction
Following these steps, a person will find the basis to emerge stronger afterward. When work feels as if it were freely chosen, the process helps work to become enjoyable; thereby showing the results of a personal investment of psychic energy.
The second major idea is that jobs need to be redesigned to facilitate flow, and at the same time to help people to develop autotelic personalities. Both are important if flow and optimal experiences are important. Why focus on work? To answer this question, Csikszentmihalyi references a study he performed. Respondents were classified as in a state of flow when they indicated they were in a situation of above-average challenges and leveraging above-average skills. Flow occurred more often at work than at leisure. Part of the reason is that leisure sometimes lacks the challenges that push people to the boundaries of their skills.
The study answers why the author focuses on work, but for those considering leaving the work world, what happens to flow opportunities when work is removed? Reflecting on the examples in the chapter and the formula provided earlier suggests that one needs to find a passion to replace the work world. An activity or “hobby” may be a set point for developing skills, focus, and losing oneself in the activity. The idea of passion is important to ensure engagement – if something is a passion we are satisfying our needs, not someone else’s. The author quotes C. K. Brightbill to close the chapter; “The future will belong not only to the educated man, but to the man who is educated to use his leisure wisely!”
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
