Mastery, unconscious competence, effortless genius. These are all ways to describe what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called the state of ‘flow’. What can we learn about ‘flow’ from music that we can transfer to the world of business and personal development?
Let’s begin, not by talking about the state of flow but by experiencing it through looking at masters of their craft operating at a state of effortless genius. Let’s start with jazz master Joe Pass:
What then is flow? Are there any ways to learn how to be in this state and what can we learn from professional musicians?
John Howitt is a professional session musician, who has performed with Celine Dion, Anastasia and Shirley Bassey. He also works with us in our business and music masterclasses. As a session musician, John must be at peak performance with every engagement. I asked him to reveal some of his tips for staying in the flow:
Flow master - John Howitt with Peter - Picture by Jason Dodd - master photographer www.jasondoddphotography.com
Peter : Can you tell us something about your career and the role of practice as a spur to personal mastery?
John : “Mastery comes out of preparation. In business circles, people talk of the need for 10 000 hours disciplined practice to master an art or discipline. Contrary to what amateur musicians might think, to do what I do, it’s all about practice and preparation. I have probably exceeded the 10 000 hours in my career as a session musician and still spend 5 hours a day playing an instrument if I am not actually engaged in a piece of client work”
Peter : Many so-called ‘creatives’ say that they feel they would lose their creativity / mojo if they overprepared. What do you say to that?
John : “Practice gives you ease AND versatility. Playing routine pieces of music almost goes on auto pilot allowing you to concentrate on what is needed to add that extra piece of sparkle. I feel this is just as applicable to business and personal excellence as it is to performing music”
Peter : As well as your stage and session work, I know you also record soundtrack music for films. In your experience, how do you move from a performance role to one that is perhaps more introverted?
John : In one way, there is no difference. When performing, you still need to keep your focus both internally on the mastery of what you are doing, whilst keeping your antennae open to hear those around you. It’s what the business gurus called ‘emotional intelligence’ – living inside your own head AND paying attention to your co-performers. Good musicians and leader do both. Bad musicians and leaders just listen to themselves.
That said, when I’m recording soundtracks, I can focus completely in on the point of detail that I’m working with, PLUS keep in mind the overall piece. The big picture AND the small detail are essential if you are to achieve what Peter Senge calls personal mastery. As a musician or leader, I find it essential to be both gregarious AND solitary.
Peter : On innovation excellence, can you share one important insight for us?
John : I’ll offer two. In music, the innovation challenge lies in breaking away from habits. Practice can force you into habit but it need not. It’s what companies like Toyota, Nokia and First Direct have achieved, rather than just repeating themselves. Furthermore, it’s like Miles Davis says “There are no mistakes”
Please share your thoughts on what gets you in the high performance zone. A recent interview with Tom Peters on the related topic of personal excellence can be found at Innovation Excellence. I found flow is vital when writing perhaps the shortest business book known to man or woman – Punk Rock People Management – get a FREE copy via the link.
If you enjoy this blog, you may also enjoy related blogs at Prince, Deep Purple, Hendrix and Bill Nelson. To finish, let’s see some more masters of music immersed in the art of effortless genius. None other than Jeff Beck giving a tribute to Les Paul, plus the original, plus a tribute to Les Paul by Bill Nelson:
Great article Peter. You might be interested to know it’s not 10,000 hours of any old practice which matters, it’s 10,000 hours of what K Anders Ericsson called ‘deliberate practice’ i.e. putting sustained effort into doing the things you can’t do very well or even at all. So to become an expert in anything, you need to get out of your comfort zone.
Bridget Grenvillle-Cleave
Hi Bridget,
Yes, thank you for this added point of important detail. I know this very well and swicthed genres to learn gypsy jazz a while back because I was simply going round the same ‘mousewheel’ by playing rock music.
My best
Peter
And a comment on the subject of flow from the master himself, Bill Nelson:
Bill Nelson Hi, Peter…’flow’ is indeed something which describes my approach to playing the guitar, but I’m not sure it has much to do with practicing or concentrated mental effort, at least not in my case. It’s somewhat more mysterious and, perhaps, risky. For me it comes from having no plan, no thoughts, but just being entirely in the moment and trusting the unconscious mind to know the way. Oh, as an aside, forgive me for pointing out that the track from ‘Here Comes Mr. Mercury’ you have got on your ‘flow’ thread is actually called ‘Never A DULL Day’ rather than ‘Never A BULLY Day.’;-) Nice to be included as an example alongside Joe, Les and Jeff though!
For more on Bill’s work check him out at http://www.billnelson.com
“For me it comes from having no plan, no thoughts, but just being entirely in the moment and trusting the unconscious mind to know the way” – good words from Bill Nelson.
Reminds me of a very old saying… “To spend time in the present, not constantly reassessing the past or worrying about the future, is the deepest rest a mind can have”.
I forget where it came from, yet I have used it many times, especially as a long-distance runner, where that being-in-the-here-and-now “flow” is a state of mind I aspire to every time I go out.
They are indeed good words from Bill. Compared with some corporate companies that say they are creative etc. Bill actually LIVES these words as a daily habit. Thanks for posting this here John.
From Kevin Chamberlain on Linkedin:
Kevin Chamberlain • Wonderful posting Peter. So agree with John Howitt.
Passion has to be there for me. Passion drives me through the tough stuff when I want to give up and on to the point where I respect what I am doing even though mastery may be elusive. Passion ensures that I never believe I have attained mastery and that there is always something new to discover.
Flow is a bit like the sea for me, sometimes powerful and I feel like I am riding a wonderful wave and other occasions I can feel becalmed, struggling to get going and feeling like I am puffing into a sail to move the boat, but I know that nothing, least of all the sea, remains the same and if I am ready something fresh will come.
The three P’s. Preparation, preparation and preparation.
Doesn’t just have to be scales mind, to get my grooves tight I tend to practise to the high performance stuff like Led Boots by Jeff Beck (love it!). Then do scales… There’s a fine line between intentional practise and just practising for the sake of it.
High performance live, plenty of water as much as the odd pint of your favourite brew would be nice it does dull your co-ordination. Save the celebrations for after.
Stage/Studio are worlds apart from your bedroom/practice room and nothing beats being onstage and getting into it. Once you sense where the flow is and how it does essentially ebb and flow then you’re cool.
Perhaps that’s the point – many musicians would consider practice to be scales and putting arpeggios on ‘auto pilot’ whereas Bill Nelson (and your own approach) is certainly still about hours of immersion but always looking for a surprise rather than just learning technique.
p.s. Bill Nelson probably does not realise the connection between you and him as I recall you worked in a music shop in York and had the job of selling his guitars when he had to reduce the size of his collection.
For myself, I like both the stage and the interactivity that it offers, and also the stillness of my ‘cave’ where I compose things in a more accidental (and sometimes deliberate) way.
Here’s a sort of counter argument to Bridget’s point. Yes, undoubtedly those hours practising something you do badly or not at all will help, but don’t forget the value of those hours doing something you *do* do well – Malcolm Gladwell wrote about this in regard to Bill Gates, who clocked up those hours having fun, and doing something he was good at – the end result was the same accumulation of hours.
Technically speaking, according to the master of flow, Csikszentmihalyi, flow is not an emotional state i.e. you don’t feel anything whilst you’re in flow. It’s only afterwards that you feel good.
I guess this goes to show that as long as we put the hours in, in our own way, we may become a master of a craft or discipline Gordon. I feel the need to get Peter Senge involved in this conversation soon…
(p.s. Bill Nelson probably does not realise the connection between you and him as I recall you worked in a music shop in York and had the job of selling his guitars when he had to reduce the size of his collection.)
Very true indeed. It what was Alpha Music in York. The one guitar that springs to my mind was an acoustic fretless bass, huge triangular like body that had no hope of sitting on your knee to play. It sounded huge and gorgeous. And Bill was ever the kind polite soul everytime he came into the shop.
At a guess it would have been 1992/1993 as I was just putting together my own band and about to start the journey of discovery that was The Chapman Stick.
from a recruitment perspective ( i’m in HR) beig able to get in the flow is linked to the ability to be engaged in your work so i tend to look for in the flow experiences with candidates.
check out the great Tim Gallwey inventor of “he inner game” coaching books for tons of useful stuff on flow in sports/music and business. I have found it useful in playing tennis and golf and my guitar.
Proof positive that the concept of flow has a positive impact across a variety of discipline Brian. Many thanks for posting here.
I’m sure his visits to your shop would have been tinged with a degree of sadness at that time, having to let go of such fine instruments. He has now replenished the stock to some degree.
Keep on with those low frequencies!
Listening to bill’s new 8 album box set as I write this. What a guy. Been a fan since the old days of be bop, back in 74 x
Hello Michael – I too started around 1974 – saw Be-Bop Deluxe at Chatham Central Hall when I was 16 – life was never the same!