Perspectives
Get Into the "Flow" of Training
by David McFeely, Ph. D.
Are
your learners happy? That may seem like a strange question to ask, but
according to emerging research, happiness might be one of the most important
keys in the development and training of others. A number of years ago I was
reading different articles on what makes people happy when I came across the
work of Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced
CHICK-sent-me-high-ee). Based on years of research dating back to his thesis
work on Artists, he explains that people are happiest when they are in a state
of “flow”. This is a state of being fully immersed in what you are doing,
where you feel energized and fully involved with the process and success of
the activity, and where nothing else seems to matter. You can also describe
this as being “in the zone”. We all have experienced this at one time or
another in our lives; some of us even on a regular basis. One tell-tale way of
knowing if you are experiencing flow is that your sense of time slips away.
You may even forego eating or other concerns of self because you are so
wrapped up in the activity at hand. For me, I am in flow when I get a new
electronic gadget or piece of software. I can spend hours working with it,
trying to figure it out, and afterwards it seems like just a short period of
time has elapsed. (I completely understand that working with technology would
not produce flow in many of you, but work with me here.)
Skill
Level and Challenge
Flow
is found in the balance between the challenge of the task at hand and the
skill level of the person performing the task. If the task is overly
complicated for the skill of the performer, the person experiences a state of
anxiety. If the task is too easy, the person is in a state of boredom. In his
book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Csikszentmihalyi
describes flow as:
A
sense of that one’s skills are adequate to cope with the challenges at hand
in a goal directed, rule bound action system that provides clear clues as to
how one is performing. Concentration is so intense that there is no attention
left over to think about anything irrelevant or to worry about problems.
Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted. An
activity that produces such experiences is so gratifying that people are
willing to do it for its own sake, with little concern for what they will get
out of it, even when it is difficult or dangerous." (Csikszentmihalyi,
1991:71)
Don’t
we wish that we had that much attention from consumers of our training? Is it
possible to create that sense of flow in the learning process?
Flow
and Training
So
how can we relate flow to the learning process? There are three elements that
are critical to achieving a state of flow. First, there needs to be clearly
defined goals. Second, there must be a balance between perceived skills and
perceived challenge. Third, feedback is essential.
When
designing or delivering training, it is important that everyone understands
the goals of why they are there and the outcomes that they are working
towards. The outcome also has to be in some way intrinsically rewarding to the
individual to begin the journey to learn the new tasks or skills. Unless and until someone is on board with the outcomes, they
will never experience flow. For some people, it may take a little while before
they “get it” and become engaged in the learning process. As facilitators
of learning, the quicker you can get people involved and enrolled in the goals
of the training, the faster they will experience flow.
Secondly,
participants must believe they possess the skills to accomplish the goal. They
need to at least possess a modest amount of self-confidence that they can do
it even when they are being stretched to learn new concepts. Remember, the
idea isn’t that they shouldn’t be challenged by the task, as that would
create a state of boredom, but that they have the belief
that they can accomplish it. Practically speaking, it’s important to make
sure that they have the necessary prerequisite knowledge and skills to be in
the training that day. A solid gap-analysis or pre-test will help determine
their level of readiness for the new concepts.
Through
training, you want participants to experience flow not only in the learning
process but also in applying the knowledge and skills on the job. Csikszentmihalyi explains that in order to experience flow
performing the new skills, one must overlearn
the material. This means that the newly acquired skill or concepts must be
practiced well beyond the point of initial mastery. It needs to be ingrained to the point where it becomes
automatic, or tacit. What this does is allows the person doing the task to
focus on the performance as a singular action instead of the set of actions,
or steps, associated with it. Training, therefore, must extent beyond the
classroom into the job and be continually reinforced in order to achieve this
level of mastery.
Finally,
feedback is critical. Not only do people need to feel confident and competent
in achieving the goal, but they also need to receive feedback in order to
correctly adjust to achieve the goal. For the person in flow, they need to
clearly know how they are performing. They should be able to ascertain clues
that they are on track to achieve the goal. As a facilitator of their learning
you can provide feedback in order to help them build their own awareness of
what a good job looks and feels like.
About the Author:
Dave McFeely helps companies achieve
business results through innovative workplace learning and performance
solutions. He is a teacher, author, and frequent speaker on topics such as
Training as a Business Strategy and Utilizing Learning to Cultivate and Retain
Top. As a lifelong learner, he holds a Ph.D. in Corporate Training and
Development. Dave is an active member of the Dallas chapter of ASTD and serves
on the Best Place to Learn committee. In addition to his consulting work, he
is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas at Arlington and the
University of North Texas teaching courses in communication and leadership.