Fun, fear and focus is the title of a keynote talk by neuroscientist Frederike Frabritius some time ago. In the last few years neuroscientists all over the world start to understand better how our brains are impacted by many “circumstances”, which includes the effect of specific hormones on our brains and how that helps us in getting into a flow, a kind of (super)focus. In that same research it was discovered that (of course) we humans are not exactly the same, and understanding those differences could help in working together as well.
We agilists love flow. So we love focus. In this post I will share how I am using this scientific information in creating better human relationships in my agile surroundings.
So, I am not a scientist, and certainly not a scientist with any real knowledge about our brains. Let me try to explain what I have understood from the mentioned talk in my own words. In order to get into a flow, we human need to find our optimum in focus. This optimum is somewhere in between two sides that are both needed to get there. First of all, it is about the fun part. We have several hormones, like dopamine and serotine, that give us a “positive” rush (the so-called reward system). So if something positive happens, it gives us that feeling (for a very short time). It can be triggered by anything, even by simple things like being surprised, or being a bit anxious.
On the other side, we have the hormones that relate to the feeling of urgency, kind of pressure to get things done, like cortisol and adrenaline. Those hormones belong to what we call stress hormones, so they help us in getting into a kind of alert state. Research has shown that the flow optimum lies between those two sides. At that point, you will definitively have focus, though you can help yourself in getting at that point by doing one thing a the time, keeping away distractions et cetera. The optimum lies between those two sides, and it is different for every human being.
Let that last part sink in a bit: it is different for every human being.
I know I prefer to have some pressure and it helps me in getting focus. So my optimum seems to be more directed towards the “stress” side and a little less towards the “fun” side. If the statement finally has sunk in, you should now be aware that not everyone gets into a flow by simply adding more stress. There are a lot of people who are more on the “fun” side, which certainly does not mean that they are doing their jobs worse. Actually, it is very positive that people are seeking their optimum so they can do their jobs effectively.
That also means that we simply cannot translate other peoples neuro-hormone-systems to our owns. It is simply different and it is very hard to understand the way it works for them, simply because we translate it to our own feelings and our bodies (brains, hormones) are literally telling us things differently.
So even if we cannot really understand it, this knowledge is very helpful in our daily lives as agilists, when working with other people. So understanding where your personal optimum is, helps in understanding other potential optimums and rather than disqualifying people who have a different one, just try to understand if they have found their focus and thus their flow. For me it helps me understand that not everyone needs that same amount of pressure that I need. So instead of discussing what new stretch goals people would like to pick us, which may even lead to loss of flow and focus, it might be much better to ask people to explore what they need to get into a flow and focus, and simply accept that.
As a side note: it helps me to understand things like burn-outs and bore-outs better as well. The threshold to get into such a situation is different for each individual as well, because it is an (enduring) situation of too much in either direction. And since the optimum is different, the border line of where it is too much, is different.
