Archi
Flow State in the Design Process​
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There's an interesting phenomenon that sometimes occurs when people are engaging in productive activities. Jazz musicians often describe something they call being in the pocket, in other settings like sports and work it's called being in the zone, but in psychology it's called Flow State. This conscious state was defined by a Hungarian psychologist who's name I will not even try to pronounce (Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi) and is characterized by feeling completely in your element and immersed in the task at hand, resulting in production of a much higher caliber of work than can be typically attained under normal conditions.
The question we're going to explore today is whether or not this mindset can be practically employed in the design process of architecture.
Whether you're Howard Roark staring down a project mano e mano or you're working with an extensive integrated project delivery team with people of drastically different backgrounds and world view, the design process can be slow and painful. At the same time we've all experienced those brief moments of clarity where one minute you're completely stumped and the next thing you know it's twelve hours later and the task is completed in front of you. Another experience that is probably familiar to you is when you sit down with your project team and it just feels like everyone is on the same wavelength, brainstorming produces lots of discussion and everyone leaves feeling good about the project.
So what do we know about these opposite experiences and is there any way to turn that flow state on when desired? The theory of flow state, as outlined by Mihaly, claims that flow is achieved when both the challenge level of the activity and the skill level of the person are relatively high. So essentially you have to be confident with your ability to complete the task, but also important is the context: the task itself must also be conducive to achieving a flow state, namely it must have clear checkpoints that indicate progress and goal completion, in addition the person must be free from distractions. If all of these requirements are met then a flow state can be achieved, though that doesn't mean it always will, Mihaly also suggests that some people are more susceptible to these states than others, he called these people autotelic, and characterized them as being curious, persistent, and selfless; but little research has been done to validate this theory.
What about group flow? Mihaly postulated that when all of a groups members agree upon the collective goals and processes the group can most easily slip into a group flow state. Again, the researching this area is a little spotty but some methods that might be useful for getting everybody on the same page can be taken from team building exercises like the ones performed at company retreats and summer camps; specifically tasks designed to build trust and encourage open communication would likely improve the group's dynamics. There is some research to suggest that listening to music with your team members, specifically when moving with the music and singing along increases co-operation and overall team success. Whether or not these tips can directly result in group flow is a question that won't be easy to answer but they are tried and true methods that have a proven track record of improving group co-operation and reducing in-fighting so even if they don't kickstart that mental state they're still probably good practices to have in place.
So what does all of this psychology and sociology talk mean for the design process? What can we actually do to get better buildings out of this? An easy one is get rid of any unnecessary distraction when trying to illicit a flow state, go somewhere private, shut the door, and put your cellphone on silent. Since flow can only be achieved when your perceived skill level matches your tasks perceived challenge level make sure your skills are up to the task: depending on what part of your design process your trying accomplish in a flow state this might involve practicing your hand drafting, or becoming more familiar with your design software, if you struggle with these physical processes during the task it can really derail your flow.
