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Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning
 
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Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning [Paperback]

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 17.50
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Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning + Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience + Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life
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  • Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Paperback CDN$ 12.26

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  • Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Paperback CDN$ 13.00

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Product Description

From Amazon

In psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's definition of leadership, the personal is political. The best-selling author of Flow interviewed several dozen exemplary CEOs whose wisdom provides the radical job description of the book’s premise: "Leaders must make it possible for employees to work with joy, to their heart’s content, while responding to the needs of society." Csikszentmihalyi leverages his definition of "flow"—-the capacity for full engagement in an activity—-to create a blueprint for a workplace in which bringing out the best in workers comes before products and profit. When leaders select and reward employees who find satisfaction at work, they can create an upwardly moral organization.

In this view, leadership is a privilege that requires checking ego in the coatroom and peering into the mirror to ask tough questions. For example, "How do I determine if something is right or wrong?" Or, "What is my business doing to benefit human well being?" He offers some inspiring stories from leaders who engage employees to go with the flow, including Body Shop CEO Anita Roddick, Patagonia crown prince Yvon Chouinard, and media mogul Ted Turner. Some of Csikszentmihalyi’s advice will sound familiar. Yet he creates a compellingly fresh vision of good business in both a material and spiritual sense. Ultimately, the success of this book lies in its powerful, non-flaky ability to define corporate soul in terms of a company becoming a stakeholder in an entity larger than itself.--Barbara Mackoff --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Asking business leaders to turn a profit in this climate is tough enough, but psychologist Csikszentmihalyi challenges them to do something even tougher: make people happy. The author first explored flow, the enjoyment felt when an individual is focused on a complex task, in 1991's bestselling Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, and he has often returned to the subject (The Evolving Self; Creativity; etc.). Now he wants to show business leaders how to foster flow and use their psychic energy to enhance the happiness of their employees, customers and even themselves. The advice book offers predictable but sound guidance to business leaders: know oneself, set clear goals for employees and consider the consequences of business decisions. Insightful quotes from figures like Aristotle, Dante Alighieri and John Locke provide some historical grounding, but mostly the author focuses on how modern businesses motivate employees and contribute to the common good. By conducting extensive interviews, the author collects the secrets of successful business leaders, including the Body Shop CEO Anita Roddick; McDonald's chairman and CEO Jack Greenberg; and AOL Time Warner's Ted Turner. Roddick, for example, says that looking at company's lavatories and cafeteria can reveal a lot about a firm's corporate culture and the happiness of its employees. If a firm fails to create a clean, healthy environment for its workers, it probably isn't doing much good. Csikszentmihalyi shows how moral responsibility, respect for the environment and clean bathrooms can make a business good and the whole world better.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a great business book, May 6 2004
By 
Stuart Berman (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Good Business (Hardcover)
The premise of the book is that our jobs are a primary component in our life and that when we are happy in our work we are the most productive and of the most value to our business.

Mihaly reviews the concept of "flow" from his earlier studies which is a state where we fully utilize our skills and capabilities and how we are able to reach that state and what inhibits us from reaching it. We also learn about our own development stages and how we improve through the combination of

realizing our uniqueness and by valuing human relationships.

This book teaches us about good leadership qualities and how we (being led) can find satisfaction in our work.
Organizational leaders must clarify the goals of a business and ensure it is well communicated.
Three levers are available to managers to enable flow and create a great organization: make the environment attractive and comfortable; imbuing jobs with meaning and value; and by rewarding individuals who find satisfaction in their work.
Flow presents opportunity (such as finding more satisfaction) and challenge (as in the case of changing a job that sucks the life out of people).

Innovation is seen as repeatable through flow - but certain practices must be met such as: stay away from micro managing people; let people know the problems that need to be solved; and how to set and achieve performance goals (prioritizing tasks throughout a company has the effect of ensuring a company
won't meet its goals).

An outline of the conditions for flow:
1) Clear goals - you know your tasks and have the appropriate skill
2) Immediate feedback - you understand the effect of your efforts
3) Balance opportunity with capacity - you always learn to seek opportunity
4) Concentration - don't over think (remember the old 'Inner Tennis' books?)
5) The present is what matters - you exist in the 'now'
6) Control is no problem - you become immersed in the work
7) Time is altered - you 'slip through the cracks in time'
8) Loss of ego - you focus on giving not taking or defending

This book is a quick first read and will inspire thought, take the opportunity to read it.
It is more than a great business book - it is also a book about life.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Packed with Knowledge!, Mar 1 2004
By 
Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Good Business (Hardcover)
Take a look at the scandal-filled headlines, or just read a Dilbert comic strip about cubicle culture, and the message is clear: the business world is cutthroat, unethical and no fun. But here comes psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi with a contrarian message. Work should be fun, and companies should care about something aside from the bottom line. Using examples such as clothing maker Patagonia and investment pioneer Sir John Templeton, Csikszentmihalyi makes a convincing case that profits must come after meaning. Patagonia, for instance, lets workers take surf breaks, and Templeton became a model of full engagement. We suggest this book to any manager seeking a better way to do things, and to any employee hankering for deeper job satisfaction.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for business leaders, May 24 2003
By 
This review is from: Good Business (Hardcover)
A brilliant work taking the author's concept of FLOW and applying it specifically to work and business. The approach may have been taken previously ... though never so well or so clearly. There are practical, concrete matters addressed as well as the overall psychology of FLOW. It quickly becomes clear why some employees stagnate in their work, even though they may be highly skilled. There is much that business owners, managers and leaders can take away to enhance their own lives, the lives of their employees and of society on the whole. And the not-so-surprising outcome of these endeavors is greater success for individuals and for the business.
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