After offering one example of Bridging the Generational Gap using technology, today the desire is to explain another opportunity for generations to find commonality through the lens of Flow Theory. Recurring repeatedly in the flourishing research from a myriad of disciplines including sports, psychology, and education, is the concept of flow, created by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, one of the co-founders of positive psychology. Mike Oppland, in his November 2019 article on positivepsychology.com describes the concept as being “universal and has been reported to occur across all classes, genders, ages, and cultures, and it can be experienced during many types of activities. If you’ve ever heard someone describe a time when their performance excelled and they were ‘in the zone,’ they were likely describing an experience of flow. Flow occurs when your skill level and the challenge at hand are equal.”

For an informative five-minute video about flow theory and being in the zone, I direct you to John Spencer’s YouTube video entitled What is Flow Theory? mainly because he opens with one of my favorite sport memories, which illustrates this concept so well, game one of the 1992 NBA Championship series between the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers. Even if you are not a basketball fan, you have most likely seen the Michael Jordan hands-up shrug where he describes being “in the zone” while scoring 39 points including six three-pointers. In post-game interviews athletes will often articulate this almost out-of-body experience where they were intensely focused and extremely accurate, but I speculate that most of us have had an experience of being in the zone at least once in our life, whether it occurred while participating in a hobby, in the workplace, or in a sporting event. Even the marketing industry capitalized on the concept of flow as represented in the tagline, “Get in the Zone, AutoZone!”

Why in the world would anyone connect this concept of flow theory with generational theory? Because regardless of our age, whether we are emerging into a career or defining an encore career, there is a God-given desire to thrive in all the seasons of our life. And one commonality that leads to flourishing in all seasons and at all ages is the happiness we experience when we are in the zone or in the flow of an activity we enjoy. In The Gen Z Effect, the authors offer that “flow is similar to a Goldilocks Zone-that place where all the variables for success are just right.” So, whether a person is in a state of enjoyment or feeling a deep sense of purpose, they are experiencing flow, they are in the zone!

In a later post, I will offer a chance to dialogue about the importance of flow and the Habit of Deep Work, but today will serve as an introduction to flow theory and how it can serve as a connector, along with technology, to bridge the generational gap. Shared experiences become an effective way to create relational equity with others; and if describing a time when I was in the zone provides a framework for my students to connect with a topic we are learning, then we have bridged a generational gap while also allowing them to Follow Where They’ve Been!

Please feel free to share your personal experiences of being in the zone in the area below.

Related blog posts: Bridging the Generational Gap | Follow Where You’ve Been | Essentials of Relational Equity | Habit of Deep Work | Seasons of a Professional’s Life