Not Wanting to Sound Woo-Woo, But This Here is Gold

Find Flow. This is undoubtedly going to sound “woo-woo” upon first hearing, but in many successful transactions or projects in which I was involved, there was a “flow” that developed and powered events and conditions through to a successful conclusion. Described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (that’s me-hai chik·sent·me·hai, in case you were struggling) in Flow, his seminal work on the concept, flow is the internal state of intense focus and productivity. He described nine characteristics of flow:

·      Complete concentration on the task and elimination of disruptions

·      Clarity of goals and rewards, with immediate feedback

·      Transformation of time (speeding up and slowing down)

·      The experience is intrinsically rewarding

·      Effortlessness and ease

·      Heightened creativity

·      Balance between challenge and skills

·      Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination

·      A freeing of control over the task

I heard someone once describe flow as the comfortable state between boredom and anxiety, which starts as fun and enjoyable and, with increasing challenge and skill levels, evolves into energized growth.

How Do You Create Flow? Every situation is unique and there is no single answer. My advice is to learn about flow, be constantly aware of the characteristics of flow, and look for every opportunity to bring it into fruition in your venture. Even with that intention and awareness, it will often ultimately depend upon many external factors outside of your control…the market, the character and capabilities of other parties in the transaction or process, time constraints, and on and on. When you sense it, you are acutely aware of it and its power, and you try to protect and maintain it.

What if there is flow, but it’s not producing anything of value. In other words, where flow does not involve traction? 

Flow Must Be Matched with External Traction. Whereas flow refers to an internal state, traction refers to the measurable progress and momentum of the path towards an objective. This is where brutal honesty is required. Although you may have found flow in the work immediately before you - developing new software, negotiating a distribution agreement, hiring team members - and it may be fun and enjoyable, but are you achieving your overall business objective? Are you making forward progress? If not, this lack of traction requires tough decisions. Do you abandon the mission? Do you make a significant pivot in your mission? Do you re-tool?

GROW and SELL Advisors, wholly-owned by Traversi & Co., LLC, is a premier sell-side M&A advisory firm – a boutique investment bank – serving the lower middle market.  Visit us here.

For a short video clip on this topic, click here.