Group Genius + Flow
We briefly discussed group flow and the reading Group Genius: The creative power of collaboration by Keith Sawyer in this past week’s workshop. Since then I have actually done the reading (whoops, but better late than never). After I finished I immediately placed Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to my ‘to read’ list on GoodReads (and now after googling his name will go watch his TED talk) which was referenced throughout the essay. I have a particular interest in company culture and how it effects work life and behavior. So I was particularly pleased to have been assigned a reading that touches on that topic while also relating to group work in general. I enjoyed the reading as I was able to closely relate the situations described to experiences I’ve had. For instance:
“First, and most important, they’re doing something where their skills match the challenge of the task. If the challenge is too great for their skills, they become frustrated; but if the task isn’t challenging enough, they simply grow bored. Second flow occurs when the goal is clear; and third, when there’s constant and immediate feedback about how close you are to achieving that goal. Fourth, flow occurs when you’re free to concentrate fully on the task. When you’re lucky enough to work with these four features, you often enter the flow state” (Sawyer, 42)
While reading this I thought back to when I use to rock climb on the regular a couple of years ago. This makes sense as later in the reading it is revealed that Csikszentmihalyi is a mountain climber. While rock climbing (indoor) I was always very particular about the routes I would choose for the day I never wanted to pick one I knew ahead I would not be able to complete but I still wanted it to be a challenge. If it wasn’t a challenge I would not feel the same thrill and inner encouragement I did from struggling a bit. The goal was also always very clear – finish, then finish without breaking at any point etc…While climbing and after finishing a route, I would constantly be receiving encouraging and critical feedback from my belay partner and others at the club. I was also able to fully concentrate on climbing as when you feel like you may plunge to the ground at any moment you tend to concentrate pretty hard.
“people are more likely to be in flow at work than when they’re relaxing at home” (Sawyer, 42)
I find this statement to be very true as I think many of us struggle to get any work done at home and that (in my opinion) is something that maybe has lead to the popularity of studying at coffee shops. When it comes to specifically being at work. Other than having the appropriate atmosphere I have often found myself almost in a meditative state when doing things like data input a very redundent task but when I finished I would feel replenished, accomplished, and my mind would be racing with productive and creative ideas.
“a strict deadline is certainly a challenge but not the right kind of challenge; the challenges that inspire flow are those that are intrinsic to the task itself”(Sawyer, 48)
This was one of the statements I think most directly correlates to my experiences with group projects and why they may not have gone well. The group became more focused on when they needed it done by rather than the quality of the content they were producing.
“People get into flow when they’re in control of their actions and their environment. This implies that groups won’t be in flow unless they’re granted autonomy by senior management” (Sawyer, 49)
I was very pleased the importance of autonomy was discussed as I used it as one of my “creative traits” in a previous post. I now feel validated in my explanation as to why I think it lends to my creative side!
REFERENCES
Keith Sawyer, 2007, Group Genius: The creative power of collaboration, New York: Basic Books, 2007, pp.39-57.
