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Flow & Decision-Making
Flow doesn’t just increase our decision-making abilities — it increases our creative decision-making abilities. Dramatically. In Flow, we are our resourceful, imaginative, ingenious best. In business, McKinsey conducted a ten year research project into Flow, interviewing thousands of corporate executives from all around the world. They concluded that being in Flow resulted in a 400-500% increase in productivity. Similar studies although not quite of this scale have also confirmed this. Better still, the changes stick. According to research done by Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile, not only are creative insights consistently associated with Flow states, but that amplified creativity outlasts the zone. People report feeling extraordinarily creative the day after a Flow state, suggesting that time spent in the zone trains the brain to consistently think outside the box. A significant amount of our understanding of the Flow state has come from research done into action and adventure athletes. Creative insights are par for the course for these guys, but it’s also why we’re seeing accelerated growth in ultimate performance in action and adventure sports. Pushing the limits of human potential requires considerable innovation and imagination. Their decision-making abilities have become so fine tuned because basically, it's flow or die! By spending so much time in Flow, these athletes have found a way to ramp up these abilities. Moreover, by consistently using that creativity to push limits, these athletes have taken things even farther. In June 2017, Alex Honnald free solo climbed El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, California. That means he climbed it without the usual ropes, harnesses and safety gear associated with the sport. El Capitan is a 3000 feet sheer granite face, three times higher than the Empire State Building. A normal ascent takes two to three days; he completed it in just under four hours. |
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One of the triggers to Flow is 'High Consequences' (Triggers). Obviously the consequences for Alex couldn't be higher (that's him in the red t-shirt!). One wrong decision and he would be dead. Action and adventure athletes are choosing high physical consequences to help access the Flow state but fortunately we don't have to do that to gain the benefits. High consequences don't just have to be physical, they can be mental, emotional or social. Any kind of performance where we are putting ourselves in the limelight and outside of our comfort zone can be the trigger.
One of the triggers to Flow is 'High Consequences' (Triggers). Obviously the consequences for Alex couldn't be higher (that's him in the red t-shirt!). One wrong decision and he would be dead. Action and adventure athletes are choosing high physical consequences to help access the Flow state but fortunately we don't have to do that to gain the benefits. High consequences don't just have to be physical, they can be mental, emotional or social. Any kind of performance where we are putting ourselves in the limelight and outside of our comfort zone can be the trigger.