As mentioned in the introduction to Part II of this book, we see learning as making sense of an experience and incorporating that into our own mental models. It so happens that nature has equipped us with a special type of biological feedback that rewards appropriate learning activities (i.e., activities that serve to ensure our survival). Of course, survival for modern human beings largely means learning effectively in a meaningful context. Nature has arranged it so that we are rewarded with a deep feeling of enjoyment and satisfaction when we achieve this. We experience this feeling when we succeed, for example, with an interview for a job we really would like to land. The bigger the challenge seemed ahead of the interview, the bigger the reward in terms of a feeling of not only pleasure, but satisfaction.

This good feeling with which the body rewards us when we learn something important is the one of the most important driving forces in our development and understanding of the world. The body uses positive emotions and sensations to encourage us to learn what is important for us, since effective learning has been aiding us in our struggle to survive since the Stone Age. As mentioned in Chapter 7, the emotional reward drives our attention, which drives our learning, which drives our memory.

Over the past 30 years, countless researchers and scientists have thoroughly investigated this sense of deep satisfaction. One of these individuals is Hungarian psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, who refers to these feelings or this mental state as flow. The flow science is fully integrated into the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method as the key learning driver both for the individual as well as for the group. It is impossible to imagine that the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method would work without the LEGO bricks—or without integrating the flow concept.

Flow is a condition in which we are completely engrossed in a game or task, lose our sense of time and place, and utilize our learning potential to the fullest. The model presented in Figure 8.1 is a graphic representation of the flow concept.

The model illustrates how we arrive at the condition for flow when our competence and the challenge we face are in balance with each other. It also conveys how a lack of challenge leads to boredom and how facing too difficult a challenge creates anxiety. Finally, the model illustrates how we develop and become more competent as a result of experiencing flow; that is, we have a high point experience. A high point experience is when we succeed mastering a challenge that initially felt too hard and out of reach. It is when we surpass our own expectations to our abilities.

Let us walk you through the model. If we are in an A1 (lower left) or A4 (upper right) state—or anywhere on the diagonal corridor in between the two—our competencies are perfectly matched by the challenge. As a result, our bodies will reward us with a positive feeling of accomplishment and we will experience flow. If the challenge is greater than the competence (A3—upper left), we will experience anxiety. We have two choices here: to acquire skills in order to achieve the A4 state, or to attempt to lower the challenge and move back to state A1. However, it is often difficult to ignore meaningful challenges in practice once you have become aware of them. When the level of competence is higher than that of the challenge (A2—lower right), we will become bored and will seek greater challenges, in order to achieve the A4 state once again. It would be meaningless to try to return to A1 in this case; this would imply ignoring or unlearning skills already acquired, which would be pointless.

Designers of ski resorts and computer games apply this model all the time. As you're likely aware, the goal of numerous computer and video games is essentially to get to the next level. By nature, we are built to strive for being in the flow corridor and to develop new learning. This is a driving learning force for the player (or skier) that the person aims to tap into. If you continue playing at level A1, you will eventually get bored and lose interest in the game—unless there is option of increase the challenge/level of difficulty so you can strive for an A4 state. If, on the other hand, the game's entry level is too challenging, you'll remain stuck at A3. You'll likely lose interest and move on to something else.

Those of you who have experienced downhill skiing will also recognize the flow model approach. The steepness and difficulty of the slopes are classified in levels from very shallow/easy to very steep/difficult with a system that is commonly known to skiers. We refer to these levels as green, blue, red, and black; green is the easiest slope and black the most challenging. This steepness progression enables you to learn effectively by choosing the context that fits your competence. Then, as your competence grows, you can also increase the challenge and achieve a state further up in the A1 to A4 flow corridor.

Whether you're playing a computer game or skiing downhill or completing a project for work, becoming totally immersed in the activity leads to a feeling of enjoyment and satisfaction as a result of getting better at the activity in which you are engaged. This process of getting better is a learning outcome—and it's crucial to understand that there is a close connection between learning and flow. This is best illustrated by comparing answers to two central questions. If you ask people when they feel they are able to learn most effectively, very few will answer that they find boredom—the A2 state—instructive in the long run. Likewise, few people would claim that being in a state of anxiety (A3) enhances their ability to learn. While short periods of tension or anxiety may be necessary when starting on a task, they have a negative impact on learning over an extended period. The overwhelming majority of individuals will recall successful learning experiences during which they were sufficiently challenged by a task that really meant something to them. Thus the state of flow arises when the context is meaningful to us, and when our environment enables us to become fully involved in a task that neither bores us nor creates anxiety.

If we were then to shift our focus and ask when a person enjoys life most, we would find a similar pattern. Relatively few people would report that they enjoy life when they are bored; nor would many claim to like living in a state of anxiety. The vast majority would say that they are happiest when they are doing something that is neither too easy nor too difficult. By comparing these two factors, it is reasonable to conclude that enjoyment and learning are two sides of the same coin. We can see how both children and adults appear to be happiest when they are learning most effectively; we can even go as far as to assert that effective learning is experienced as playful, where play is considered broadly as the preferred mode of human being.