Silent mornings and why flow state matters to you
Years ago I was running a big systems integration effort for a large bank.
Project was in a lot of trouble. I don’t know why I have always been attracted to such projects but that is a story for another time.
Huge effort. Complicated. Better part of 800 people working in it. Nothing was getting done.
What I realized was people needed to be in a flow state. They needed time to think and be productive in isolation, but the environment had no respect for that.
Flow state
The term “flow state” describes a mental state in which a person is completely focused on a single task or activity. They are directing all of their attention toward the task, and they do not experience many thoughts about themselves or their performance. Some people refer to this informally as being “in the zone”.
One of the key issues preventing people reaching flow state is simple - the need for freedom from distractions.
Now I know many of you don’t work in offices anymore. And while at Method360 we believe that there are huge gains to be gathered from in-person collaboration you must accommodate for the disadvantages. People interrupt you. People talk to you. Unintentional though it may be they knock you out of flow state.
Remote workers face an even greater series of interruptions. People will scout your calendar, if your time is not otherwise blocked (or even if it is), they will take an hour from you with no consideration to what else you might be doing. You are “available”.
We are beginning to collaborate with the Center for Brain Health at my alma mater The University of Texas at Dallas. They have made impressive strides and it is easy to embrace their work.
https://centerforbrainhealth.org/
For example, they study the obsession in our society with multitasking. So few people are effective at doing multiple things at the same time that the number rounds to zero. The tendency to multitask measurably diminishes individual performance by ~40%. To be effective, we need to be free from distractions, enter into a flow state, and stay there for some period of time. Focus is the currency of our time.
How do we encourage an environment that enables people to enter a creative and productive state?
It begins with simple and fundamental appreciation for human behavior. People need freedom (the academic work calls this ‘agency’) and control over their time to achieve focus. People are encouraged to take 3-5 minute reset breaks. Take a walk outside. Grab something to drink and disconnect for a minute. Then re-engage in focus. You shouldn't feel bad to isolate yourself when you need time, our future as a company depends on your being effective in isolation. People are discouraged to interrupt people when they are trying to get something done. These are all tools of culture. Culture takes time to build and there are symbols that help.
2 Tools
We created red / green signs on every door in the building. Clear indicators of availability. There is a flag on every monitor in the building. If the red flag is up - keep walking. Don’t interrupt. People have added decor to their signs. Things like “come back with a warrant”. “You are out there and I am in here, let’s leave it that way for a while.”
For important projects we implemented “quiet mornings”. Nothing is scheduled until after lunch. Ever. You are to focus in the morning and be effective. If you are working with someone else on a deliverable that is fine. If you reach a stopping point and cannot possibly continue - you are completely halted - you can interrupt someone and ask for guidance. All creative team sessions are held only in the afternoon. Need an update? It can wait. Curious about something? Don’t poke your head in. Send an email and know that someone will get back to you in the afternoon.
Then we have lunch as a team. We provide lunch every day for this very reason. It is a time to reconnect socially so the afternoon meeting and collaboration periods are not so jarring.
We have found the creative work is greatly enhanced and overall progress is constantly being made.
And the bank I started to write about? We instituted “quiet mornings” and the progress was shocking. We got more work done in the next 3 months than had been done in the previous year and a half and completely turned things around. People seemed happier. The mood was lighter. The work was better.
I have asked myself over and over why this is a lesson that I have to relearn. It is human nature I suppose. So my team is working to be more intentional and embrace what we know works, and what the research tells us.
We have learned more about human nature and the physiology of the brain in the last 25 years than was known in all of human history. Yet I too frequently rely on old habits. It should not be so. Quiet mornings help me change that.
As a side note, I am trying to be less responsive to email. Hard for an old sales guy. I am trying to reserve time twice a day to respond. Will see how that works.
#liveonpurpose