FLUUNT is Latin and means “flow”. The principles of “flow” guide us in our work with individuals, teams and organizations. Optimizing “flow” at its various levels in the corporate context fosters a vibrant culture, capable of bringing to life vibrant products required for vibrant business growth. In our experience, “mechanical agility” via Agile frameworks alone is not enough to adapt to market volatility, complexity and uncertainty. However, measuring “flow” and “vibrance” can produce leading indicators of both business growth and personal growth, making them a key asset in the Agile and New Work movement, as well as in coaching.
The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times … The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 1990
Individual Level
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was the first to identify and research “flow”. He defined it as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it” (1990). Csikszentmihalyi is considered one of the co-founders of Positive Psychology.
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Organizational and Team Level
At organizational and team level, “flow” additionally refers to the flow of work and the question “When will it be done?”. This flow theory and the associated flow metrics are based on systems thinking and lean principles, among others, but apply in any context. In particular, we draw on the work of Daniel S. Vacanti, who defines flow as “the movement and delivery of customer value through a process”. For us, this concept is central to promoting healthy and productive teams.
Moral Level
In the context of diversity and culture, we have found that individuals are intuitively guided by their personal moral flow. Moral judgments deeply shape social interactions in teams and organizations and affect their effectiveness. We draw on the work of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and his “Moral Foundations Theory” set forth in his book “The Righteous Mind”. Haidt coined the term “Moral Capital” which he defines as “the degree to which a community possesses interlocking sets of values, norms, practices, identities, institutions and technologies that mesh well with evolved psychological mechanisms, and thereby enable the community to suppress or regulate selfishness and make cooperation possible”.
