In his recent wildly successful New York Times article, Adam Grant, organizational psychologist and Wharton Business School Professor, described the concepts of languishing and flow.
We have all felt aimless, empty and joyless at times. This is called languishing. It just feels like you are muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield.
Flow is something that counters languishing. Flow is the state of the total absorption in an activity. You lose track of time and you might even lose your sense of self.
Languishing is stagnation, flow involves momentum.
Adam Grant describes three prerequisites for finding your flow at work:
(1) Mastery: At work, the strongest factor in daily motivation is a sense of progress. It can be small wins, not a big accomplishment.
(2) Mindfulness: If we want to find flow we need to focus our full attention at one task. Fragmentation is an enemy of both energy and excellence.
(3) Mattering: Knowing that you make a difference to other people gets you to peak flow. Having a meaningful purpose at work is critical.
HOW TO HELP YOUR TEAM FIND THE FLOW
The concept of flow resonated with us at Teamraderie, and we set out on a quest to find real inspiring stories of attaining flow.
We are pleased to introduce a new Teamraderie experience: Finding Flow with Tatyana McFadden.
Tatyana’s personal story is fascinating and unique.
Born with spina bifida, Tatyana spent the first six years of her life in a Russian orphanage with virtually nothing, not even a wheelchair. Paralyzed from the waist down, she learned to walk on her hands. Then, in 1993, Tatyana was adopted and brought to the United States.
In the U.S., her parents enrolled Tatyana in sports programs as a way to build her strength. Tatyana fell in love with wheelchair racing, and her powerful arms brought success.
Today, Tatyana is the world’s most decorated Paralympic athlete. She has 17 Paralympic medals, 24 World Major Marathon wins, and has broken five world records in track and field.
In this interactive live Teamraderie experience with Tatyana, through examples from her life finding meaning in sport, she will help your team re-think their goals for the purpose of pursuing engagement and flow.
Very often people set goals that push them to work harder; the common theme is ‘sacrifice’. Tatyana will discuss why goals that support engagement and flow over achievement and sacrifice will produce the best results for your team and for your team members’ well-being.
The experience page has a video where Tatyana explains how she would engage your team. Consider scheduling this session to help your team set meaningful goals and attain flow.