Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.



Mihaly's last name is pronounced chick-sent-mih-high, and the intent of his book is to describe how different people create meaning in life with full intention and focus and thereby achieve an ongoing state of satisfaction and sense of fulfillment. It is, thus, not a recipe book for self-improvement, but Csikszentmihalyi offers general concepts -- principles (a flexible framework) -- that can be applied to yourself and your life. Although he is a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, this is not a textbook, and it is not about psychology alone. With psychology, he interweaves philosophy, anthropology, and sociology as well. It is written for everyone, and it explains an important concept. The major components of the flow experience include: 1) There's clarity of goals, 2) Feedback is immediate. You know moment-by-moment how well you're doing, 3) The challenges of the activity are matched with the skills of the person, 4) There's a feeling of focus on what you're doing, 5) Everyday frustrations are removed from your attention, 6) You feel that you can be control of your life, 7) You also lose a sense of self-consciousness, 8) And, finally, a sense of time is transformed. His discussion of "the zone" or the state of "Flow" is thorough, comprehensive, and clear. This is an engaging, thought-provoking, eye-opening book by a knowledgeable, educated man who offers readers a popularized examination of the intellectual bases for the concept of flow. He doesn't use long lists of scholars, rather, he uses copious "real life" examples to illustrate the concepts he introduces -- how to achieve optimal experience. This is not a "fun" read unless you like critical analysis of psychological processes, but his approach is logical, linear, and well illustrated. Once you read it, you will want to save it and re-read it from time-to-time. As an author who has experienced flow many times in his life, I can tell you that it is wonderful having this book as a mental reference for understanding the entire process.