Think about the last time you thought about providing feedback to a teammate or coworker. Did you hesitate?

Most people will say yes.

If we're aiming for flow state - either in business or sport - we must shift our mindset to see feedback as imperative to success.

Sometimes we receive the immediate feedback we need from the environment or process itself (a missed shot is feedback to adjust form; a disengaged audience may be feedback to adjust your presentation style).

Sometimes though, we need that feedback from those around us.

The best way to start? Shorten the feedback loop. Feel yourself hesitating to provide feedback? Challenge yourself to give it immediately. Worried you'll mess up? You might, and that will provide you with immediate feedback to improve your feedback in the future.

Risk

Risk is often an inherent part of performance - whether you're in sport, business, the arts, or leadership. But sometimes we downplay risk to make ourselves feel more comfortable which can switch off this necessary flow trigger.

Risk can be uncomfortable and make us feel vulnerable...two things we often shy away from.

In performance, though, we want to embrace the risk. Aside from being a catalyst to growth and resilience, risk is necessary to achieve flow state.

Without risk, our physiological systems don't activate in the right way to get the rush of neurochemicals and hormones that align with our highest performance states.

The next time you feel yourself downplaying the risk or vulnerability within a performance, flip your mindset. Recognize that your best performance is only possible because that risk is present.

This is one of the most beautiful elements of sport or any performance. Operating on the edge. Seeing the risk and being...

Having clear goals is one of the most potent and most overlooked group flow triggers because we often assume we're all on the same page. But even small variations can shift individual focus and impact performance and group flow.

Clear goals are critical to group flow. It is what gets and keeps everyone's effort moving in the same direction. When we assume we're on the same page, we leave room for error in that direction.

Consider this... I recently asked a sports team their team goal for an upcoming competition. Here are a handful of their answers:

-Leave everything on the field

-Win

-Beat [opponent]

-No regrets

-Team cohesiveness

-Be gritty

-To win and play together from start to finish

Now, I love this list. There's some great stuff here and we might initially think "cool we've got the same idea."

But on second inspection, think about the moment these athletes step on the field. Think about how each of these athlete's actions, decisions, and play might be...

You've probably heard of "flow state" or "being in the zone"...but have you heard of "group flow"?

Regardless of whether you've heard of it, you've probably experienced it.

It was that moment your sports team seemed to be playing as one unit - communicating without speaking, anticipating movements as if you were reading a teammates mind...

It was that moment your work team got "on a roll" in a meeting and seemed to be planning, creating, or producing as if you were one brain - sharing the lead, building on ideas fluidly...

Group flow is real (like, measurable by science).

And, because of that we also know some of the "triggers" that make group flow more likely. These are those ten triggers.

Science shows is that by pulling on any one or combination of them, we can increase our likelihood of entering group flow.

Stay tuned this week as I introduce and explain a few of them. Find out which triggers you could use more effectively improve...