Achieving 'Flow'

In a conversation today it came up how high performance teams thrive on challenges. Well that was the opinion (which I do tend to agree with) and this reminded me of the concept of 'flow' that I once read about but could never find the reference to. But as Google would have it today I did find the magic words to find an article about flow.

As defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi:

"... a state of deep focus that occurs when people engage in challenging tasks that demand intense concentration and commitment. Flow occurs when a person’s skill level is perfectly balanced to the challenge level of a task that has clear goals and provides immediate feedback."

The conversation lead me to wonder if there is a relationship between high performance teams and flow. I wonder if the collaboration within the team with the various skill sets facilitates flow. Is collaboration a flow enabler?

To put it in other way, in a team members help each other and function as a unit. So does this enable each member to achieve their best ... that is, achieve flow?

Whatever the case I love flow. :-)

Other links:

• Wikipeadia
  
• Amazon.com: Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play