Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and the Flow of Goodness

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, is a leading thinker in the field of Positive Psychology. This interview was recorded at the Purpose Prize Summit at Stanford University Sept 8, 2006 by Tom Munnecke. One of the world’s leading authorities on the psychology of creativity, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi is the C.S. and D.J. Davidson Professor of Psychology at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and Director of the Quality of Life Research Center. He is also emeritus professor of human development at the University of Chicago. Csikszentmihalyi holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago where he later returned as a professor. He has been a visiting professor at several universities both in the US and abroad. His research has been supported by the US Public Health Service, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Sloan Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. A former resident scholar at the Rockefeller Center at Bellagio, resident fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, and senior Fullbright Fellow in Brazil and New Zealand, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi holds honorary doctor of science degrees from Colorado College and from Lake Forest College and a doctor of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. In addition to the hugely influential Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990), he is the author of thirteen other books and some 225 research articles. His most recent book is Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning (2003). This interview was recorded at the Purpose Prize Summit at Stanford University Sept 8, 2006 by Tom Munnecke.