The Importance of Flow in Productivity for Leaders

Leaders are called to do one thing - Get Results!

So what's the key to getting greater results faster? How does a leader actually get DRAMATIC results?

This is a question that leaders for thousands of years have been asking. According to the TrainingIndustry.com, businesses pay $370 Billion per year to help them achieve the results that they want and need, and that doesn't include employees who pay for their own development!

That's $370 BILLION DOLLARS!

And how effective are these programs? The honest truth is that very few programs are actually effective. Why is this?

There are plenty of reasons, but we're not going to focus on these today. What we want to know is...

What actually creates RESULTS for leaders?

What many leaders do not realize, and a large part of what I have formed my career around, is that the key to getting dramatic results does not lie in skills - but rather Physiology!

I actually, recently, was a speaker for an event talking about "The Leader's Physiology", and wrote a small ebook about this topic.

One thing that I didn't get the opportunity to dive into further though was the importance of Flow States to achieving DRAMATIC results!

So what are Flow States?

The Godfather of Flow States defined it as, "Flow is an optimal state of consciousness, a peak state where we both feel and perform our best. We become so involved in a activity that nothing else seems to matter. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement and thought follows inevitably from the previous one like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the upmost."

In simpler terms, Flow is the state of mind where the greatest levels of achievement and productivity are possible.

There is a simple acronym for how Flow feels in our lives - S.T.E.R. You yourself have probably felt moments of Flow in your life! Here's a picture that explains what S.T.E.R. is:

Now Flow States are extremely powerful, they are considered what's called, "autotelic", which means that human beings (like you and me) will seek it out for it's own sake, regardless of the cost, and potential danger that it could put them into.

According to the research my mentor, Steven Kotler, multiple time NYT Bestselling Author on Flow States, has done, the industry around Flow is a...

$4 TRILLION INDUSTRY!

That is not a typo, that is 10x what the training industry is, which we discussed earlier. That is how passionately people seek out these states!

But do you know where most people NEVER seek out these states?

If you said, "At Work", then you would be absolutely correct.

Most people think work would be the absolute last place to find Flow States. But let's think about this in a different way...

What would it be like to achieve Flow states at work, and to have our teams achieve Flow states at work?

The answer is that Flow States can completely change your life and your team!

Let's look at exactly what kinds of results Flow states can do for you and your team...

The first key you need to understand for this topic is the concept of what's called, "The Challenge-Skills Ratio".

The basis of this concept is that there is a particular balance that you need to be able to achieve in order to actually find Flow States.

The simple idea behind this is that if the challenge is too small compared to the skills you have, you (or your team) will end up bored. On the other hand, if the challenge is much higher compared to your skills, you (or again, your team) will end up stressed out.

The ideal spot in this model is to find where the challenge level is a little bit higher than your current skill level, and there you find what is called, "The Flow Channel". This is the spot where we find Flow States.

Further research has actually expanded upon this original model, but the goal to find Flow States is still the same. The image below shows the fullness of the states involved. As we'll continue to discuss, the Flow Channel exists where the Skill Level is high, and the Challenge is just a little higher than the current skills. This is where we want to be!

Now, there's actually a mathematical representation of where Flow States are found -

You find Flow when the Challenge you face is about 4% higher than your current skill levels, and where both the challenge and your skills are high.

When you are hitting this 4%, some amazing things happen: Productivity increases, Creativity increases, Problem Solving increases, Memory and Retention increases, Life Fulfillment increases, and so much more!

And when you're in Flow, some amazing things can begin to happen on your team! Collaboration increases, amount of work accomplished dramatically increases, workplace satisfaction increases, and the list goes on!

Along with this, you are able to recover faster and achieve the results you seek at the fastest rate possible.

Now, 4% doesn't seem like it's that much. The truth is that most people in business blow past this number, but in doing so it becomes a part of their downfall.

When you go above this number, multiple factors begin to work against you, and they become worse when you compound it with a team. Your stress goes up, you productivity actually decreases, your recovery dramatically increases, chances of sickness and disease go up, from a team perspective leaders destroy teamwork, demotivate their teams causing the members to do the absolute minimum work needed to keep their job, and that's just a short list!

This next graph, from my own research, demonstrates how productivity increases over 1 week as you get closer to the 4% challenge-skills ratio, aka the closer you get to consistent Flow States. It also shows how productivity and results are negatively affected as you go past that point. This data shows working 5 days on, and off for 2 days (results are different if this is not true, but for purposes of this article, we are focusing on the average work schedule, Monday to Friday).

As you can see, when you consistently get into Flow states at the 4% challenge-skill ratio, over 1 week your productivity increases to nearly 120%! This means that you are 20% more productive compared to what was possible before you started getting into those Flow states consistently!

You'll also notice that from 1% to before 4%, you will gain increasingly improved productivity. This is because you'll be in states of "control" or "relaxation" in this range, which with consistency will lead to improvements in productivity. You may also notice that under 1% will land you at less productivity achievable than where you started! That is because you are in states of "boredom", or worse "apathy" which demotivates you to achieve your potential.

On the other hand, you will see that at the 5% and 6% range you do have improvements, though at a lesser rate than what you achieve at Flow levels. This is because here you are in the "arousal" state, but the level of the challenge will not allow you to retain as much information, and recovery takes longer leading to less overall productivity.

Getting into 7% and higher challenge-skills ratio, you also experience less productivity than where you began, and this is because you will be in the "anxiety" and "worry" states, which have increasingly detrimental effects on your psychological state of being, and the time needed for recovery will continually take longer and longer (I do not show above 10% because most people cannot sustain that level of challenge for long, and in some cases it leads to mental breakdowns).

But what happens when you maintain this level over time? That's what the next graph shows:

As you will notice, by maintaining Flow states at work for a month, your productivity levels will continually increase to close to 200%! This means you are doubling your productivity from where you started!

How is it that at 1 week, your productivity is 20% more, and at a month it is 100% more?

This is due to what's known as "The Compound Effect" or "The Law of Big Mo". Essentially, as you continue to improve, your momentum increases, you obtain gains upon your gains, which creates exponential results!

As you can imagine, this has huge consequences over time, and explains how it is that some people - especially people who are obviously less skilled - somehow get dramatically further in life in what seems like much less time!

You can also begin to see how "apathy", "anxiety" and "worry" over time continually drain what you're able to accomplish. Slowly, but surely, your productivity continues to dwindle and get worse.

But YOU are a leader, so productivity for yourself is of course great, but how does it impact your team?

Well, what's really fascinating about Flow, is that individual Flow can drive what's called, "Group Flow". Essentially, if you as the leader can consistently get into Flow states, you can begin to push the rest of your team into Flow states as well! In terms of productivity, even at only a month with a team of only 5 people, the results can be staggering:

You are not misreading this graph. Maintaining Flow States in a team of only 5 people over a month can lead to productivity gains of over 3,000%! Essentially, each individual goes from a 2x increase in productivity (seen in the second graph), to a 6x increase in productivity by being in a team steeped in Group Flow in the same time period of 1 month. This is the power of "The Compound Effect" mixed with "Group Flow".

This graph also shows us two other things. Common business practices believe that gains of 10% over a year are good. But, based on what we know is possible, that means that the vast majority of companies expect their employees to keep their challenge-skill ratio at less than 1% per year (essentially staying in the bored or apathy states). This means that these companies are not utilizing their employees anywhere NEAR their potential.

The other thing we can see is how high-stress environments, where employees are in constant states of anxiety or worry, never seem to produce results over long periods of time. Infighting ensues, sabotage, revolving-door syndrome, employees refusing to speak up, problems existing that are never pointed out, leading to fires in the business constantly, and more problems like these lie in this zone. This is actually far more common in our world today than the previous scenario, which is why we have such a leadership deficit in the world currently.

Just to help you understand the truth of this, here are some stats about the state of leadership in our world:

✙ 58% of People Trust COMPLETE STRANGERS more than their Bosses

✙ 84% of Organizations EXPECT a shortfall of Leaders in the next 5 Years

✙ 82% of Organizations say their CURRENT Leaders are INEFFECTIVE

✙ 83% of Employees FEAR losing their Jobs (pre-virus)

And that's just a short list of the stats that prove how more businesses are falling into the trap of attempting to increase productivity by increasing the challenge-skill ratio too far!

I also want to remind you that this is still the case when the world spends $370 BILLION PER YEAR on Leadership Development in order to AVOID these kinds of statistics, and this is a number that seems to be continually increasing year over year.

Now, if you're reading this article, then I know that you're a smart person, which means that I know you now have a question going through your mind...

"This information is great, but what can I do to increase Flow states in my life, and in the lives of those I lead?"

That's a fantastic question to be asking, and it is a question that I am working on answering in my own work.

If you're playing the small game, a good place to start is to read the books, "Rise of Superman" and "Stealing Fire", both by my mentor Steven Kotler.

But TRUE leaders don't want to play the small game, they want to go ALL-IN and get the full results that are possible by consistently getting into Flow States.

If that's you, then you'll likely be interested in what I'm working on. I'm working with Steven Kotler, and his team at the Flow Research Collective, discovering the keys to getting into Flow states more consistently in our lives, and expanding that into the lives of our teams. I'm personally passionate about helping my clients achieve this in their work, in their teams and businesses, and in their lives!

If you're interested in hearing more about what I'm working on, then you will want to check this out: https://Flow.TheLeadership.Guide/.

What I know is that if you're interested is Flow and productivity, you are likely up to amazing things in the world, and so truly from my heart, I pray that you receive the strength and understanding needed to achieve the goals that are before you, and that you have great success in the endeavors of your life!

-Cody Dakota Wooten, C.B.C

The Legendary Leadership Coach and Speaker

Host of The Leadership Guide TV Show and Podcast

Former Member of the Forbes Coaches Council and Advisory Board Member for the Future of Business Coaching

Finalist for the Next Level of Inspirational Leaders and the Extraordinarian Award for Coaches with Ideas that can change People, Businesses and the World for the Better