The Truth About Managing People, Third Edition

Truth 15. Professional Workers Go for the Flow

Can you think of times in your life when you’ve been so deeply involved in something that nothing else seems to matter? The task consumes you totally and you lose track of time. Most people can. It’s most likely to occur when you’re doing a favorite activity: running, skiing, dancing, reading a novel, playing a computer game, listening to music, cooking an elegant meal. This totally involved state is called flow. Managers should look to flow as a particularly effective way to motivate professional employees.

Research finds that the flow experience itself isn’t necessarily a time when people are happy. It’s a period of deep concentration. But when a flow task is completed, and the individual looks ...