Stephen Collar

But microflow is what happens at work, right? You go to work. Let's say you work in an office. You sit down to write a quickie email to your colleague. It's supposed to be a paragraph long, take two minutes. But you get so sucked into what you're doing. An hour goes by and you look up and you've written a whole essay and it's great. You're like, what happened to the time? That's microflow.

But microflow is what happens at work, right? You go to work. Let's say you work in an office. You sit down to write a quickie email to your colleague. It's supposed to be a paragraph long, take two minutes. But you get so sucked into what you're doing. An hour goes by and you look up and you've written a whole essay and it's great. You're like, what happened to the time? That's microflow.

Microflow is really common at work. Most of us spend about 5% to 10% of our work lives in microflow, even without noticing it. So Csikszentmihalyi found a way to block microflow in people back in the 60s. He did this experiment. He blocked it for three days. And then he recorded what happened to people. Look what happened to people in three days blocking microflow. It's like extreme burnout.

Microflow is really common at work. Most of us spend about 5% to 10% of our work lives in microflow, even without noticing it. So Csikszentmihalyi found a way to block microflow in people back in the 60s. He did this experiment. He blocked it for three days. And then he recorded what happened to people. Look what happened to people in three days blocking microflow. It's like extreme burnout.

They go from normal, well-adjusted, happy to deeply paranoid. I can't think. I'm suspicious. I'm anxious. I can't focus. I'm miserable, et cetera, et cetera. Here's the thing. Modern business is designed to block microphone. The entire way we do business these days blocks microphone. The way almost every company is organized 11 different channels of communication coming in. You've got Slack.

They go from normal, well-adjusted, happy to deeply paranoid. I can't think. I'm suspicious. I'm anxious. I can't focus. I'm miserable, et cetera, et cetera. Here's the thing. Modern business is designed to block microphone. The entire way we do business these days blocks microphone. The way almost every company is organized 11 different channels of communication coming in. You've got Slack.

You've got email. You've got all this stuff pulling your attention on the present moment. You're blocking microflow. You're literally creating conditions for yourself and your employees that are going to drive everybody into burnout almost immediately. Hi, welcome to your new job. Have some burnout. That's literally what we're doing to people in our companies most of the time. They're our company.

You've got email. You've got all this stuff pulling your attention on the present moment. You're blocking microflow. You're literally creating conditions for yourself and your employees that are going to drive everybody into burnout almost immediately. Hi, welcome to your new job. Have some burnout. That's literally what we're doing to people in our companies most of the time. They're our company.

Toyota doesn't do it. Patagonia doesn't do it. The best companies in the world, you look at what they're doing, you look at their management philosophies. They've got pro-flow management philosophies, and they've found a way to go against that. But most companies have no idea. They think all this technology is making them more efficient, and it's making them miserable and less efficient.

Toyota doesn't do it. Patagonia doesn't do it. The best companies in the world, you look at what they're doing, you look at their management philosophies. They've got pro-flow management philosophies, and they've found a way to go against that. But most companies have no idea. They think all this technology is making them more efficient, and it's making them miserable and less efficient.

I think it's because he can lift a car on his shoulder.

I think it's because he can lift a car on his shoulder.

So here's the other thing that's really also interesting. Just let's go back to culture because we were talking last night when the three of us were together about the importance of culture in organizations. Flow is a culture building engine. That's one of the things. So here's something that's really interesting.

So here's the other thing that's really also interesting. Just let's go back to culture because we were talking last night when the three of us were together about the importance of culture in organizations. Flow is a culture building engine. That's one of the things. So here's something that's really interesting.

You hear a lot of stuff these days about, oh, I want psychological safety in my workplace or we're going to be an inclusive workplace. Right. And first of all, first question, how the fuck are you measuring? Because it's fine to say it out loud. Who doesn't want psychological safety in an inclusive workplace? We all do. But how are you measuring it? And most people are trying to measure it.

You hear a lot of stuff these days about, oh, I want psychological safety in my workplace or we're going to be an inclusive workplace. Right. And first of all, first question, how the fuck are you measuring? Because it's fine to say it out loud. Who doesn't want psychological safety in an inclusive workplace? We all do. But how are you measuring it? And most people are trying to measure it.

They end up breaking their companies because everybody's got their personal little things. And that's what comes up, right? Psychological safety and inclusion becomes code for, oh, no, anything that personally is bothering me, I can now call it I'm unsafe or I don't feel included. And suddenly the company's screwed. So you want to really, yes, we want these things. How are you measuring them?

They end up breaking their companies because everybody's got their personal little things. And that's what comes up, right? Psychological safety and inclusion becomes code for, oh, no, anything that personally is bothering me, I can now call it I'm unsafe or I don't feel included. And suddenly the company's screwed. So you want to really, yes, we want these things. How are you measuring them?

Here's something cool. You can actually measure flow because you can't produce flow for reasons we can get into without psychological safety or If you're working in an organization and you don't feel safe or included, you can't get into flow. So you can literally measure flow in your employees as a way to find out, oh, do they feel safe?

Here's something cool. You can actually measure flow because you can't produce flow for reasons we can get into without psychological safety or If you're working in an organization and you don't feel safe or included, you can't get into flow. So you can literally measure flow in your employees as a way to find out, oh, do they feel safe?