It is as if evolution has built a safety device in our nervous system that allows us to experience full happiness only… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
...in the words of Max DePree: "Management has a lot to do with answers. But leadership is a function of questions. And… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
If we agree that the bottom line of life is happiness, not success, then it makes perfect sense to say that it… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Without respect, the subtle alchemy that binds an organization or that serves as the impetus for a business transaction would dissolve into… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
There are managers so preoccupied with their e-mail messages that they never look up from their screens to see what's happening in… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Through learning we grow, becoming more than we were before, and in that sense learning is unselfish, because it results in the… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
If a leader demonstrates that his purpose is noble, that the work will enable people to connect with something large - more… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Since the purpose of business is to satisfy existing desires, or stimulate new ones, if everyone were genuinely happy, there would be… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Many business leaders today view their jobs as entailing responsibility for the welfare of the wider community. These individuals do not define… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
The downside, of course, is that over time religions become encrusted with precepts and ideas that are the antithesis of soul, as… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
To know oneself is the first step toward making flow a part of one's entire life. But just as there is no… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It's something that we make happen, and it… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Enjoyment, on the other hand, is not always pleasant, and it can be very stressful at times. A mountain climber, for example,… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
...perhaps the most distinguishing trait of visionary leaders is that they believe in a goal that benefits not only themselves, but others… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like. Is what you do for a living making you ill?… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
...if we expended all our energies solely on taking care of our own needs we would stop growing. In that respect what… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Jane Fonda, who divided her life into three acts, decided after her sixtieth birthday that she was now facing the final act,… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
If an enterprise does not aspire to be the best of its kind, it will attract second-rate employees, and it will be… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Half a century ago, the Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl wrote that happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy - it… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
There will be no good business unless the majority comes to agree that we should demand more from business than large quarterly… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
When each of these three elements of vision-concern for excellence, for people and for the wider environment-are present, business is transformed from… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
We can either help to make this world a more incredible place than it has ever been, or we can hasten its… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
A leader will find it difficult to articulate a coherent vision unless it expresses his core values, his basic identity...one must first… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
However, a good life consists of more than simply the totality of enjoyable experiences. It must also have a meaningful pattern, a… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Whatever the composition of a firm, if it is to do good business it should be a place where everyone is encouraged… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Some individuals have developed such strong internal standards that they no longer need the opinion of others to judge whether they have… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
In knowledge-intensive business settings, where every manager has to oversee massive amounts of information as well as people, facilitating the use of… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
A business is successful to the extent that it provides a product or service that contributes to happiness in all of its… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Attention is psychic energy, and like physical energy, unless we allocate some part of it to the task at hand, no work… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Knowing oneself is not so much a question of discovering what is present in one's self, but rather the creation of who… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To avoid this condition, people are naturally eager to fill… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Most enjoyable activities are not natural; they demand an effort that initially one is reluctant to make. But once the interaction starts to provide… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
People without an internalized symbolic system can all too easily become captives of the media. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Through learning we grow, becoming more than we were before, and in that sense learning is unselfish, because it results in the transformation of… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“Unfortunately, many people find the only challenges they can respond to are violence, gambling, random sex, or drugs. Some of these experiences can be… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
It is essential to learn to enjoy life. It really does not make sense to go through the motions of existence if one does… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“It is usual to explain the motivation of those who enjoy dangerous activities as some sort of pathological need: they are trying to exorcise… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“Wisdom and integrity cannot be found in any single domain. A broader viewpoint that breaks across disciplinary boundaries is needed, a way of understanding… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
For better or worse, our future will be determined in large part by our dreams and by the struggle to make them real. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Many business leaders today view their jobs as entailing responsibility for the welfare of the wider community. These individuals do not define themselves as… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
The rules themselves are clear enough, and within everyone’s reach. But many forces, both within ourselves and in the environment, stand in the way.… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
When each of these three elements of vision-concern for excellence, for people and for the wider environment-are present, business is transformed from a tool… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
