Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s famous investigations of “optimal experience” have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness and greatly improve the quality of our lives.

You have heard about how a musician loses herself in her music, how a painter becomes one with the process of painting. In work, sport, conversation or hobby, you have experienced, yourself, the suspension of time, the freedom of complete absorption in activity. This is “flow,” an experience that is at once demanding and rewarding–an experience that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates is one of the most enjoyable and valuable experiences a person can have. The exhaustive case studies, controlled experiments and innumerable references to historical figures, philosophers and scientists through the ages prove Csikszentmihalyi’s point that flow is a singularly productive and desirable state. But the implications for its application to society are what make the book revolutionary. –

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, is a leading thinker in the field of Positive Psychology. This interview was recorded at the Purpose Prize Summit at Stanford University Sept 8, 2006 by Tom Munnecke. One of the world창s leading authorities on the psychology of creativity, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi is the C.S. and D.J. Davidson Professor of Psychology at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and Director of the Quality of Life Research Center. He is also emeritus professor of human development at the University of Chicago. Csikszentmihalyi holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago where he later returned as a professor. He has been a visiting professor at several universities both in the US and abroad. His research has been supported by the US Public Health Service, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Sloan Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. A former resident scholar at the Rockefeller Center at Bellagio, resident fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, and senior Fullbright Fellow in Brazil and New Zealand, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi holds honorary doctor of science degrees from Colorado College and from Lake Forest College and a doctor of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. In addition to the hugely influential Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990), he is the author of thirteen other books and some 225 research articles. His most recent book is Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning (2003). This interview was recorded at the Purpose Prize Summit at Stanford University Sept 8, 2006 by Tom Munnecke.