As this is the season of holidays and relaxation when we all try to escape a bit from the rigours of work, I thought it might be interesting to examine a term and a concept related to states of mind. This is what is sometimes known as “flow state” a phrase I only came across recently, though I know it well in practice from sport and work. It also known as “being in the zone” and can be described as “a mental state where a person is fully immersed and focused on an activity, experiencing a sense of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment. It's characterized by a deep sense of absorption, engagement, and skill, often accompanied by a loss of self-consciousness and a distorted sense of time.” This could of course apply if you are sitting in the sun on a beach in the Mediterranean with a glass of Campari in your hand, but I am more interested in its application and usefulness to our professional lives.

For some more background on the concept see this Guardian article The flow state: the science of the elusive creative mindset that can improve your life which says that the term “flow” in this context was first coined by the late Hungarian psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi – see his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. His investigations showed that “Contrary to the assumption that we are happiest while resting, he found that the peaks often involved very high levels of mental focus. The specific activity did not seem to matter – it could be swimming, playing the violin or performing brain surgery. What counted was the feeling of immersion and mastery.” According to his research “flow is most likely to occur when we find the perfect balance between our current abilities and the difficulty of the activity at hand.” He was told by a mountaineer “When you’re [climbing] you’re not aware of other problematic life situations. It becomes a world unto its own, significant only to itself.”

Applying this concept to the working world this Indeed article 11 Ways To Experience a Flow State in the Workplace suggests that “Flow is a phenomenon you may experience that predicates a healthier mental state, better mood overall and more productive output”. It proposes that this results in amongst other things:

• Loss of self-consciousness: When you're so engaged, you're not thinking about how others perceive your behaviour.
• Sense of timelessness: You're so focused on the present that you don't notice the passage of time.
• Acute attentiveness: You attend to every aspect of the task with the same level of scrutiny.

It then proposes ways to experience and enhance flow in the workplace, for example, creative exercises: “Using creativity is an excellent method for inducing flow, even if your job isn't inherently creative”.
While this article Demystifying the “flow” state among  leaders and managers suggests research has found that a state of flow exists within all of us and can lead to a state of peak performance when “Time lost meaning — there was no past, no future, just the here and now. In that moment, you were so aligned with your task that nothing was beyond your reach.” It cites a study by McKinsey & Company executives over a decade which “witnessed a remarkable 500% surge in productivity when they achieved a state of flow”. In an extract from a McKinsey newsletter on the topic they say, “When we conducted workshops with more than 5,000 executives and asked them to reveal what creates flow in their own work, their answers were remarkably consistent: clarity of role and purpose, trust and respect between teammates, and an exciting challenge with high stakes”. They also observed that “Companies cannot manufacture the flow state, but they can create an atmosphere that encourages it.”

I do however think that being in a flow state like this can have its problems in professional life. Intense focus on one matter to the exclusion of all others may not help achieve broader work goals. I saw a sporting example of this extreme concentration in the final of the Rome WTA tennis tournament earlier this year. The American Coco Gauff who was playing Jasmine Paolini from Italy came out after a break, didn’t look up, and to the surprise of the crowd and her opponent, who was still standing by the umpire’s chair, served into an empty court! In her serving action she is so focused that she does not even look up at her opponent. Still, she must be doing something right because although she lost that match she went on to win the French Open at Roland Garros a few weeks later.

This Psychology Today article 2 Little-Known "Dangers" of Entering a Flow State picks up this theme and proposes that “While the flow state can be beneficial to your well-being and performance, it can occasionally slip into an unhealthy obsession. When the pursuit of that peak performance becomes all-consuming, it may start to drain your energy, blur boundaries and take a toll on your mental health”. It suggests we should strive for harmony “being passionate in a balanced way, without it overwhelming other life priorities.” I would add here “or other work priorities”.

On balance I have concluded from my own experience as well as researching the topic that being in a flow state properly managed can enhance our work experience and professional lives. See this blog Five Principles of Flow in Legal Practice which recognises the challenges in the context of the legal profession “Legal practice, especially litigation, is rarely conducive to flow” particularly because we keep having to respond to different demands. However, “it is precisely because the profession is so reactive that flow becomes not just desirable, but necessary. To sustain a meaningful legal career — particularly one that avoids burnout — we must learn to create pockets of intentional, immersive work: to cultivate flow not in spite of the profession, but within it.” It then proposes five “Principles of Flow for Lawyers” including:

1. Structure your day for deep work. Flow requires uninterrupted attention.
2. Match task to skill level. Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety.
3. Define clear goals and feedback loops. Flow depends on clarity.

It concludes “Flow is not a luxury reserved for artists or athletes. It’s available — in moments, at least — even to lawyers”.

As Richard Branson said: “In two hours in flow I can accomplish tremendous things.”

While the Swedish author Charlotte Eriksson observed “Spend more time doing things that make you forget about the time.”
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And for a concluding word from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi the originator of the concept. “It is when we act freely, for the sake of the action itself rather than for ulterior motives, that we learn to become more than what we were.”

This is not a blog about so called “creative professionals” such as design artists or musicians, or having a hobby as a writer or a painter. It is rather directed at the benefits we can all derive as professionals from learning to be more creative in our day-to-day work as individuals and as part of teams. By way of illustration every time I write this blog I start with a theme and a topic which I then explore. Without fail the research I conduct has taught me something new about the topic - even on a subject I thought I knew well. Sometimes the investigative work I carry out leads me down paths I had not anticipated or intended, and often changes the direction of the blog in unexpected ways. For example, my last blog Time Management and Beyond started out as a review of time management techniques but evolved into an examination of attention management. The very process of writing an article or preparing a presentation can itself create a new or more in depth understanding of the subject matter. The same is true about transactional work where every new deal brings its own creativity and learning, though sometimes we may not recognise this in the heat of the moment and take the time to learn from this. The art, as it were, here is perhaps being open to creative learning and taking the time to recognise and appreciate its benefits.

Here are some ways AI suggests for developing creativity in a professional context:

Embrace a growth mindset: Believe that creativity can be developed and improved with practice. 
Step outside your comfort zone: Engage in activities that challenge your thinking and expose you to new ideas. 
Seek diverse perspectives: Collaborate with people from different backgrounds and disciplines. 
Practice brainstorming: Generate a wide range of ideas without judgment, even if they seem unconventional. 
Learn to recognize and overcome creative blocks: Understand that creativity can be cyclical and learn strategies for getting unstuck.

However, whilst it may thus be able to help suggest how we can be more creative, AI can’t in my view actually replace individual professional creativity, perhaps because this requires personal experience and insights as well as leaps of faith moving beyond logical progression. And as it may be unique thinking building on experience, no amount of searching the Internet will find something that does not yet exist.
We are as professionals ultimately not just good technicians, but problem solvers of the highest calibre and it is here that creativity both on an individual and a team basis really comes into its own. In my area of legal work see for example this article The Role of Creativity in Legal Problem-Solving which proposes that creativity:

“in legal practice transcends traditional notions of artistic expression, encompassing the ability to think critically, analyse complex situations, and devise innovative solutions tailored to legal contexts.” and

“serves as a powerful catalyst for enhancing legal problem-solving by empowering lawyers to explore innovative approaches, challenge conventional wisdom, and navigate complex legal landscapes with agility and insight.”

There is somewhat to my surprise even a Centre for Creativity in Professional Practice at Bayes Business School in the University of London whose “vision is to build a global community of creative thinkers and practitioners who work together to lead positive change.”

I suggest that after the conclusion of any commercial or corporate transaction it pays to have a wash up session not just to look for things that did not go well (those are usually fairly obvious), but to examine what new and creative learning the team and the business can derive from the work. For me as a technology lawyer creativity means above all keeping an open mind and looking outside our own particular “practice box”. For example, in private practice and in-house I encouraged fellow practitioners in IT law in my firm or company to network outside our particular business with other technology professionals using organisations such as (in my field)  SCL (The Society for Computers and Law) or ITechLaw.

Creativity is not confined to our professional world but is a valued asset for business generally – see this Harvard Business School blog The Importance of Creativity in Business which proposes that “creativity and innovation are important across all industries because business challenges require inventive solutions”. It associates creativity with the concept of “design thinking” which “is different from other innovation and ideation processes in that it’s solution-based and user-centric rather than problem-based. This means it focuses on the solution to a problem instead of the problem itself.” Design thinking connects the operational world (the concrete, structured side of business) and innovation world (which requires curiosity, speculation, creativity, and experimentation). It suggests ways to encourage creativity and innovation including:

• Don’t Be Afraid to Take Risks
• Don’t Punish Failure
• Maintain an Open Mind

I recognise that creativity is just one aspect of our professional skill set. See this Forbes article Curiosity, Creativity, Emotional Intelligence, And Mindset At Work which concludes “Curiosity sparks the desire to explore, mindset shapes the journey, creativity transforms ideas into reality, and emotional intelligence fosters collaboration along the way. Together, these elements create a powerful framework for driving personal and organizational growth.” However, I suggest it is perhaps not well understood or utilised in our day-to-day work and deserves more conscious thought and development in our professional practices. 
Maybe we also need to take ourselves a little less seriously and, for example, learn from the youth of today. In a management exercise some years ago I helped lead a team creating a new board game. At the end of our work we bought in some sixth formers from a local school whose younger minds and fresher outlook led to some great improvements we had never even considered.

“The most creative people have this childlike facility to play.” John Cleese.

We could also perhaps benefit from recognising that creativity is not rocket science:
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.” Steve Jobs.

As Pablo Picasso observed “Everything you can imagine is real”.

While Albert Einstein commented “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.”

And for a concluding thought from Edward de Bono (the physician and commentator who originated the term lateral thinking) “There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress and we would forever be repeating the same patterns.”