

Csikszentmihalyi has written several other books or publications in addition to Creativity: Flow and The Psychology of Discovery and Invention. He is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College.ĭr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates what creative people are like, how the creative process works, and what conditions encourage or discourage the generation of original ideas.Ī bit about the author, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: It is a must-read for students of psychology, art, music, or any other creative discipline. I highly recommend this book to those interested in the study of creative expression or those wanting to understand or nourish their own creativity. “The second reason creativity is so fascinating is that when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi He also explains that in order to achieve this optimal state, a balance must be struck between the challenge of the task and the skill of the creator. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi presents his nine component states of achieving what he calls flow, the optimal state for any creative to reach for ultimate satisfaction and expression. He then summarizes his findings from his interviews of very successful creative people, followed by a thorough explanation of what he renders the domains of creativity: the word, life, future, and culture and how to enhance your own personal creative energy.Īlthough it has been almost twenty years since the publishing of this writing, this masterpiece stands alone as the bedrock of how people experience creativity and live in what the author calls “flow”- the experience of spending hours or days where you lose track of time, forgetting to eat or sleep, feeling like there is no other place you would rather be, being “in the zone,” feeling completely immersed in your creative endeavor, experiencing creative bliss and feeling an instinctive calling to keep working on your project. Professor Csikszentmihalyi explains the creative process, the creative personality, and what it means to work creatively in the first part of his book. He also brings thirty years of research on the subject of creativity. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s groundbreaking book Creativity: Flow And The Psychology of Discovery and Invention is considered an exemplary work in the study of creative expression.Ĭsikszentmihalyi interviewed almost a hundred creative people in every field and synthesized his findings in this book. We all have it, and we all want to relish in it.
