Establish a place of work where engineers can feel the joy of technological innovation, be aware of their mission to society and work to their heart’s content.
Masaru Ibuka
First “purposes of incorporation” of Sony
There’s a name I have yet to master, so it’s a cut and paste rendition for me: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has made it his mission to understand what makes people happy, recognising that research – again and again – shows that, beyond a certain level, money isn’t where it’s at.
Csikszentmihalyi’s classic text, Flow: The Psychology of Happiness, has made it from my Amazon wishlist to my study and still has yet to be read. So I was curious to receive a link to a speech by Csikszentmihalyi on the wonderful www.TED.com which is also available on YouTube – just follow this link to hear him talk for just short of twenty minutes about his life’s work.
What questions does it raise? I wonder, how many of us achieve this state of flow and how often? What would our life be like if this were a regular part of our experience? And what would our experience of work be like if we made it our mission to pursue flow as a primary goal in our careers? (Or if, as leaders, we made it a primary goal of our leadership to create a work environment in which those we lead experience the state of flow in their work?)
Masaru Ibuka seems to have recognised the possibilities for our lives in the workplace in his first “purposes of incorporation” for Sony. As I write I recognise that it’s easy to look to the organisations we work for to facilitate our own sense of flow. I wonder, are you ready to be responsible for this aspect of your life?
PS Just to let you know, as a member of Amazon Associates UK, I shall receive a referral fee for any books you buy using the links in this posting.