Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi- Claremont Graduate University’s Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management
Books
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
- Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life
- Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
- The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millennium
- Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning
Professor Csikszentmihalyi died in October 2021. One of the founders of Positive Psychology Movement -he never attained the stardom of the easily pronounced names !!- I wish he was as popular as the so called Gurus of Motivation – because he based his analysis on science not just anecdotal story telling. If you take the analogy of the Microsoft Powerpoint/ as Positive Psychology- Professor Csikszentmihaly was part of the team that wrote the software for it- most people you see on LinkedIn- presented as Motivation Gurus- just make better presentations on his software!
But more than that he had the intellectual integrity and rigour to present his ideas in an understated manner . Like Daniel Kahneman , he advocated his ideas – not as the final word in psychology- but a dialogue , open to interpretation and re-evaluation to further studies .A lot of these “Gurus ” regurgitate Professor Csikszentmihalyi’s ideas in a format which is suitable for the attention deficit populace on LinkedIn & twitter.
This is my tribute to Professor Csikszentmihalyi- Hopefully it might get you started on a deep dive into his work and understanding of Happiness , Creativity and Engagement.
Three Main Concepts
Concept One- Flow/ Optimal Experience
Professor Csikszentmihaly used science to analyse the concept of Happiness – and discovered across professions, cultures, gender and age differences- people defined the “condition” / Optimal Experience in a similar manner – when instead of being buffeted by unknown forces- we feel in control of our actions and masters of our own fate- we feel a sense of exhilaration and enjoyment- rarely matched. These are not relaxing moments- these are moments where our mental and physical faculties are stretched and we do a voluntary effort to achieve something difficult and worthwhile.
He defined this as Autotelic Experiences or Flow . Flow converts life to a different level- alienation gives away to involvement, distraction becomes intense focus, enjoyment replaces boredom and helplessness is replaced by a felling of control. And It reinforces the concept of self .
“The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost,”
Professor Csíkszentmihályi
Concept Two- Psychic Energy & Entropy
Intention followed by Attention is the force that keeps consciousness ordered and give life meaning-Professor Csikszentmihaly called this Psychic Energy . Some people are able to harness this energy and concentrate as long as it takes to achieve a goal and are able to have a meaningful life. And like Energy in the physical world- Psychic Energy suffers from Entropy- ” physical property that is most commonly associated with a state of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty”. Intent->Attention->Action->Reflection is the antidote to Psychic Entropy; it also explains why living in an attention deficit world makes us feel desolate and depressed.
Psychic entropy is a state of mind where your thoughts cannot flow to have concrete ideas but are stuck in the same state of thought like a Merry go Round- Unless a person knows how to give order to his / her thoughts , attention will be distracted to whatever is the most problematic at the moment . And if there is nothing problematic or urgent it focuses real or imaginary pain- on recent grudges or long term frustrations. Paraphrasing Bono @ U2- your mind is running to a stand-still.
Concept Three- 6 Elements of Flow/ Optimal Experience
p.s.- Correct pronunciation of name – its pronounced mee-HIGH, CHEEK-sent-me-HIGH-ee.
References
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Applications of Flow in Human Development and Education by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- The Evolving Self: Psychology for the Third Millennium, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Losing yourself in flow state | Diane Allen | TEDxNaperville
- 11 Activities and Exercises to Induce a Flow State (+ 6 Examples)
- Higher states: how to get into the zone and maximise performance
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the Father of ‘Flow,’ Dies at 87 ( obituary in the New York times)
- Wikipedia on Entropy
Everyone just called him Mike C 🙂