Flow 2.0: Optimal Experience in a Complex World. Honoring Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Legacy - Paperback

by Stewart I. Donaldson (Author), Matthew Dubin (Author)

Thought-provoking resource on how the late Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's ideas can help us navigate our increasingly complex lives and world

Flow 2.0 honors the legacy of the late Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, showing how some of his major contributions can be extended to improve our lives in 2024 and beyond. Csikszentmihalyi is best known for his work on the concept of "Flow," which describes a state of optimal experience in which one's skills match the challenges of a situation, and for his role as a founder of positive psychology.

Underlying much of this work was his innovative and groundbreaking use of pagers and questionnaires to produce a database based on people's self-reports of their ordinary experiences. His first book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience became a bestseller in 1990, which presented his conclusions based on that database in a warm, humanistic prose style. His other books, The Evolving Self (1993), Creativity (1996), and Good Business (2003), expanded on his theories in a variety of directions.

Written by a close colleague and former student, Flow 2.0 includes discussion on:

• PERMA+4, a framework for work-related wellbeing, performance, and positive organizational psychology
• What Mihaly taught us about flow, including the basics of flow and optimal experience as well as flowing together as a collective
• Flow 2.0 across life contexts, such as in the new hybrid world of work, sports, leisure, and the future of digital society
• What Mihaly's insights mean for our lives, human flourishing, wellbeing, and positive functioning in the years ahead

Flow 2.0 is an essential read for all individuals who followed Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and wish to continue building on his work to improve their own lives and the lives of those closest to them.

Back Jacket

How the pioneering co-founder of the field of positive psychology can help us navigate our increasingly complicated world

Over the years since Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi first published Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, the field of positive psychology has become a rigorous, evidence-based discipline. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi's pioneering work on "flow," a state in which one is completely absorbed in a task or activity, continues to make lasting, positive impacts on individuals, groups, organizations, and societies around the world.

In Flow 2.0, authors Stewart I. Donaldson and Matthew Dubin show us how their colleague's and mentor's contributions can be extended to improve our lives in 2024 and beyond. With an accessible and engaging narrative, the authors share what they have learned about flow over two decades of empirical research and provide a new framework designed to help us be fully engaged in our lives and flourish in complex and dynamic environments.

Seven concise chapters explore ways the world has changed since the concept of flow was first developed, introduce the basics of flow and optimal experience, examine how we in our complex social and work lives, identify the essential role of flow in the PERMA+4 framework for work-related well-being and performance, and more.

Addressing modern life contexts such as the hybrid world of work and the increasingly digital future of society, Flow 2.0: Optimal Experience in a Complex World is a must-read for all those seeking to improve their own lives and the lives of those around them.