Happiness Triggers Flow and Creativity

Abstract

Many organizations purpose to reach a state of flow and enhanced creativity, but they never realize it. To achieve a state of flow and creativity, an organization must ensure that their workforce is happy. By studying various literature studies, the research established that various mechanisms can be used to create happiness in an organization, one being making sure that the employees are treated well so that they remain motivated. Enabling teamwork in the organization, reducing management coercion, enhancing organizational unity among other approaches are also other ways that can be used to increase happiness in the organization. The research established that happiness in an organization enhances flow and creativity. In conclusion, happiness creates flow and creativity which is the reason that organizations should concentrate on creating a happy workforce.

Introduction

To maintain a successful organization, there is a need to make an employee populace that is satisfied.  Organizational duties require to be done with ultimate flow and creativity to maintain competence and to ensure quality delivery. However, many organizations do not know how to enhance creativity and flow in the delivery of duties among their employee populace. Modern organizations, however, need to improve employee happiness as happiness triggers flow and creativity. Happiness ensures that employees are satisfied in their workplace and with their duties such that their delivery involves effortless creativity. This literature review evaluates how happiness triggers flow and creativity at work and the manner in which organizations can use the aspect of happiness to drive their employees to the flow status. From the evaluation, a fulfilling model that culminates at the flow status will be developed.

Methods

The research made an instrumental use of the qualitative research methodology. The qualitative research methodology was reached through observation of various case studies and literature review. The research methodology was applicable because the matter under question was just exploratory enough with only a few highlighted case studies. In this study, the quantitative research methodology was found unapplicable as it was not possible to examine the level of happiness using any statistical approach. 

Results

By observation of various case studies and various resources, the study established that happiness is a crucial pillar for flow and creativity. Each of the considered pieces of literature concerned everything that pertains to flow and creativity amongst a group of people. In all the studies and case studies, the study established that happiness in a workplace was sufficient motivation which created flow in the organization and fuelled creativity in the organization. The results, therefore, approved that happiness in a workplace, trigger flow and creativity. 

Discussion

Cseh, Phillips & Pearson (2015) state that flow in a workplace has positive instrumental consequences in the performance of anyone in any environment. The authors believe that there is something about having flow in a workplace that makes delivery of personal and organizational duties to be easy. The best thing about flow is that it creates perseverance considering that some corporate duties are hard to execute and therefore, they may require perseverance (Cseh, Phillips & Pearson (2015). It is, therefore, necessary to have flow in an organization if duties, even those which are hard must be fulfilled. Flow enables change in an organization because it changes employees from a position where they feel demotivated to a decisive point where they view every organizational duty as an exercise that they need to do to their best (Inghilleri, Riva & Riva, 2014). The complexity of work for an employee who is in flow mode does not affect them as they are dedicated enough to see to it that they complete their assignment. Since the flow mode suffices work delivery, it would be essential to observe how the flow mode is reached. Moneta (2014) proposes that flow cannot be reached without the utilization of a social psychological approach. The social psychological approach could be intrinsic motivation or could be extrinsic motivation (Moneta, 2014). In an organizational setting, however, the least that the management could expect is that the employees are intrinsically motivated. The management, therefore, ought to be able to motivate their employee motivated by creating a level of happiness that seems fulfilling to the employees. In work and learning environments, it is not the duty of the involved in the process but those in charge of them to motivate them (Custodero, 2005). The management, therefore, needs to observe the attitudes and challenges of employees to understand how to motivate them best.

Motivation and happiness come after critical issues facing employees have been addressed. According to Yan, Davison, & Mo (2013), the process of creating motivation and enhancing happiness starts with the sharing of knowledge. The management has to be kind enough to acknowledge that everyone has personalized information that is related to facts, procedures and their interpretations of work procedures (Yan, Davison & Mo, 2013). Creating happiness in an organization requires the management to act in a way that pleases the employee populace (Argyle, 2001). A simple positive emotion for employees keeps an organization in the path of success while a negative emotion squarely means dissatisfaction with work. It is, therefore, necessary for an organization that purposes to create happiness to establish a path of addressing the concerns of the employees and positively appealing to their emotions.

Walker (2010) established that organizational happiness is about creating a social relationship across the board. It is about creating an organization where teamwork is ensured such that the management is dependent on the junior employees while the junior employees form teams that are interdependent that working independently (Walker, 2010). There is more joy in working as a team because there is a solitary flow that is created in the team.  Working as a team enhances a positive attitude as opposed to a disunited workplace. In that essential view, working as a team will ensure that the employees acquire the satisfaction they need at work because they are not overburdened (Fisher, 2010). Taking an observation of medium and small-sized companies in Thailand, workers are reportedly happy because they work as groups and have interrelations with each other which improve their job inspiration the quality of their work and happiness (Chaiprasit & Santidhiraku, 2011). Consequently, most of the companies indicate a steady flow of work coupled with elusive creativity.

Happiness is always ensured when the employees are allowed to work with little coercion from the management. (Zubair, 2014) explains that work-related flow must always be ensured by an authentic leadership that is transformational enough to use psychological capital and allow employees to work with minimal interception (Zubair, 2015). Working without being interrupted by the organization cultivates a sense of responsibility which consequently creates the components of happiness such as efficacy, optimism, hope and resilience (Zubair & Kamal, 2015). Integration of positive behavior against the challenging work environment makes workers for involving some mental state where they have to be creative enough to fulfill their responsibility. Flow in organizational settings is a matter of psychological influence where leadership skills that enhance freedom and satisfaction among the workers open up the employees to realize that they can perform better on their own (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Flow is since created because every employee works towards the personal realization of expectations without failure. 

Employees who work with a flow are not just motivated but are also focused on delivering beyond the normal. McHugh (2016) illustrates a workplace to a place where the workers are tired and demotivated like elderly women. He states that before such individuals engage in meaningful and creative works, they need to be shown the path first (McHugh, 2016). Ramlall (2008) agrees to the concept and agrees that positive organizational behavior is not just realized in vain. It is rather realized when the management is on the frontline of the change (Ramlall, 2008). The management ought to showcase its competence in the change too before junior employees agree (Hektner & Asakawa, 2000). It not only creates happiness in the minds of the employees but makes them believe that they can do better thus enhancing flow with the example and more creativity from their experience from the management (Larson & Csikszentmihalyi, 1983). 

Happiness matters in the flow of not just personal matters but also in organization duties. It is an emotion that links growth and development in the workplace (Scoffham & Barnes, 2011). Happiness underpins conceptual and practical understanding at the workplace making functions and assignments to be conducted with the utmost positive psychological approaches.  Carr (2011), states that the implications of happiness in the workplace are nothing but success. Everybody who works in an environment where there is happiness is likely to act with minimal struggles even when the job gets complex (Carr, 2011). Flow at work enhances a worker to make creative approaches towards fulfilling a hard task such that the hard job looks like it is flowing all by itself (Engeser & Baumann, 2016). Happiness, flow, and creativity are therefore necessary for any working environment (Csikszentmihalyi 2014). 

Applicable Series of Tasks

1. Familiarize yourself with the organization’s core values and Principles
2. Identify the scope of your work
3. Identify the problems encountered and think of necessary solutions 
4. Work on daily schedules with alongside your team
5. Express opinions about work freely and appreciate responses 
6. Engage a culture of giving feedback
7. Consult widely with colleagues considering the outcome of an assigned task and work to see the best results. 
8. Check on the scope of the new assignment in the same flow

Proposed Model

. 

Conclusion

After reviewing different literary works and case studies, it was established that happiness in the workplace creates flow and it enhances creativity. It enables employees to work with ease because they have good interpersonal relationships with everyone in the workplace. It also gives employees a chance to think on different approaches to manage their assignment and with extensive consultations amongst them and their teams; they gain creativity on the best way to finish off on their tasks. It is, therefore, the sole responsibility of the management to create a workplace where happiness is profound as it brings flow at work and enhances creativity. On the larger scope, it is true that happiness trigger flow and creativity.

References

Carr, A. (2013). Positive psychology: The science of happiness and human strengths. Routledge.

Chaiprasit, K., & Santidhiraku, O. (2011). Happiness at work of employees in small and medium-sized enterprises, Thailand. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 25, 189-200.

Cseh, G. M., Phillips, L. H., & Pearson, D. G. (2015). Flow, affect and visual creativity. Cognition and Emotion,29(2), 281-291.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Learning,“flow,” and happiness. In Applications of Flow in Human Development and Education(pp. 153-172). Springer, Dordrecht.

Custodero, L. A. (2005). Observable indicators of flow experience: A developmental perspective on musical engagement in young children from infancy to school age. Music Education Research,7(2), 185-209.

Engeser, S., & Baumann, N. (2016). Fluctuation of flow and affect in everyday life: A second look at the paradox of work. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(1), 105-124.

Fisher, C. D. (2010). Happiness at work. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(4), 384-412.

Hektner, J., & Asakawa, K. (2000). Learning to like challenges.Becoming adult: How teenagers prepare for the world of work, 95-112.

Inghilleri, P., Riva, G., & Riva, E. (2014).Enabling positive change: flow and complexity in daily experience. Walter de GruyterGmbH & Co KG.

Larson, R., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1983). The experience sampling method. New directions for methodology of social & behavioral science.

McHugh, M. C. (2016). Experiencing flow: Creativity and meaningful task engagement for senior women. Women & Therapy,39(3-4), 280-295.

Moneta, G. B. (2012). Opportunity for creativity in the job as a moderator of the relation between trait intrinsic motivationand flow in work. Motivation and Emotion, 36(4), 491-503.

Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). The concept of flow. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 239-263). Springer, Dordrecht.

Ramlall, S. J. (2008). Enhancing employee performance through positive organizational behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38(6), 1580-1600.

Scoffham, S., & Barnes, J. (2011). Happiness matters: Towards a pedagogy of happiness and well-being. Curriculum Journal, 22(4), 535-548.

The Psychology of Happiness, by the Oxford social psychologist Michael Argyle, was published in 1987.

Walker, C. J. (2010). Experiencing flow: Is doing it together better than doing it alone?. The Journal of Positive Psychology,5(1), 3-11.

Yan, Y., Davison, R. M., & Mo, C. (2013). Employee creativity formation: The roles of knowledge seeking, knowledge contributing and flow experience in Web 2.0 virtual communities. Computers in Human Behavior,29(5), 1923-1932.

Zubair, A. (2015). Authentic leadership and creativity: Mediating role of work-related flow and psychological capital. Journal of BehaviouralSciences,25(1), 150.

Zubair, A., & Kamal, A. (2015). Work related flow, psychological capital, and creativity among employees of software houses. Psychological Studies,60(3), 321-331.