The Experience of Working at A Company Without Flow

Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to work in several great organizations. I’ve had great managers who have shared their wisdom and taught me important skills. However, there was one organization where things were different – It was a reputable organization where top-down management reigned and where power was abused to keep employees from questioning decisions. Ultimately, this organization struggled to achieve what renowned psychologist, Dr. Mihaly Robert Csikszentmihalyi, would call ‘flow’.

According to Csikszentmihalyi, ‘flow’ is a state of consciousness where people experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement in an activity where nothing else seems to matter. Csikszentmihalyi argued that organizations could foster an environment conducive to a positive state of flow where individuals could enjoy their work, become highly engaged, and therefore, become more productive and committed to the organization’s mission.

Yet, this particular organization ignored the importance of fostering an environment where people could find enjoyment and engagement. Instead, upper management made decisions without promoting dialogue and discussion. We felt as if a decision had already been made prior to the meeting, and we simply needed to agree with upper management when the idea was presented. Over time, people became increasingly silent in meetings. Managers became more impatient with those few who would ask a question. Ultimately, the fear of being publicly shamed, ridiculed, or verbally insulted by management led to ‘groupthink’. Originally coined by psychologist, Irving Janis, ‘groupthink’ is the process in which a team conforms to a leader’s opinion and has little tolerance for divergent opinions.

In this organization, upper management moved forward with its decisions, and hired people who followed along and agreed with the prevailing views of upper management. As upper management continued to develop the strategic plan, they did not realize that they were missing key data and viewpoints. Rather, upper management relied on their assumptions and their own perceptions, rather than seeking to gather evidence and challenging opinions. Hence, their decisions became quite often inundated with incongruities, which resulted in flawed decision processes and poor performance.

As the weeks transpired, three key indicators began to signal that the organization was in trouble. The employee turnover rate increased. Sales decreased. And customer retention decreased. To make matters worse, employee morale dropped. Although the data revealed that something was amiss, upper management decided to keep course and maintain processes as they were. Over time, remaining employees grew afraid of losing their jobs.

The organization was inundated with opinion conformity. This prevented employees from ever learning and developing critical thinking skills. Upper management began to argue that the company was experiencing “temporary” challenges which were caused by market and economic forces. However, interestingly, while this organization was declining, competitors were experiencing growth and increasing sales. Ultimately, the organization became saturated with inflexibility and risk aversion. Several employees (including me) left the organization dissatisfied with the culture and frustrated about not being able to grow and contribute.

The organization relied on the wisdom and experience of its upper management, but did not realize that the environment around them kept changing, and hence they should be flexible and open to new ideas. The organization failed to appreciate its employees and the ideas they could have contributed. Instead of encouraging employees to speak up and share, they shut them down. Upper management should have focused on building people, motivating them to contribute, and allowing them to become engaged with the mission. Employees should have been encouraged to build on their skills and use divergent thinking in decision-making. Encouraging the establishment of an innovative and creative environment can yield substantially powerful and transformational effects on any organization, while providing individuals with high-challenge, high-skill situations that will increase flow and performance.

References:

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.

Janis, Irving L. "Groupthink and group dynamics: A social psychological analysis of defective policy decisions." Policy Studies Journal 2.1 (1973): 19.