Flow 2.0

by Stewart I. Donaldson

Published 16 October 2024

Thought-provoking resource on how the late Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's ideas can help us navigate our increasingly complex lives and world

Flow 2.0 honors the legacy of the late Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, showing how some of his major contributions can be extended to improve our lives in 2024 and beyond. Csikszentmihalyi is best known for his work on the concept of “Flow,” which describes a state of optimal experience in which one's skills match the challenges of a situation, and for his role as a founder of positive psychology.

Underlying much of this work was his innovative and groundbreaking use of pagers and questionnaires to produce a database based on people's self-reports of their ordinary experiences. His first book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience became a bestseller in 1990, which presented his conclusions based on that database in a warm, humanistic prose style. His other books, The Evolving Self (1993), Creativity (1996), and Good Business (2003), expanded on his theories in a variety of directions.

Written by two of his former students, Flow 2.0 includes discussion on:

  • PERMA+4, a framework for work-related wellbeing, performance, and positive organizational psychology
  • What Mihaly taught us about flow, including the basics of flow and optimal experience as well as flowing together as a collective
  • Flow 2.0 across life contexts, such as in the new hybrid world of work, sports, leisure, and the future of digital society
  • What Mihaly's insights mean for our lives, human flourishing, wellbeing, and positive functioning in the years ahead

Flow 2.0 is an essential read for all individuals who followed Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and wish to continue building on his work to improve their own lives and the lives of those closest to them.