Stop Trying To 'Mindfulness' Your Way Out Of A Traffic Jam

“Line cooking done well is a beautiful thing to watch. It’s a high-speed collaboration resembling, at its best, ballet or modern dance.”~ Anthony BourdainWe love the word “Flow.” It sounds magical. It sounds like a river. It sounds like a state of pure bliss where you are a productivity god and work is effortless.Flow isn’t magic; it’s just what happens when the friction disappears. It’s that quiet, humming moment when the tools get out of the way, the noise stops, and you realize, ‘Oh wait, I’m actually really good at this.’ It’s the feeling of the machine working exactly as designed, and realizing the machine is you.You ever see a jazz drummer? Or a line cook during a rush? They aren’t thinking. They aren’t planning. They’re just doing what comes next, what feels right, what’s not necessarily easy, but it effortless. They are creating value.That’s flow. Not cycle time, not throughput, but intentionality and correct action that improves what you do. Humane Work is reader-supported. You are a reader. Become a free or paid subscriber.You know what else flows (downhill)? Sewage.And for most of us, that’s exactly what our workday feels like. Because we don’t know what to do next, we don’t know the why, we don’t even know our own stakeholders. For most companies, work is a backed-up wastepipe of interruptions, bad policies, and meetings that could have been emails. You wanna be “in the zone.” You’re in a hostage negotiation with your own calendar. You want to be a drummer, but instead you are playing whack-a-mole in a rigged carnival. FLOW OR FAILWe can fix this. But if we just talk about our work (which no one understands) our conversations will just be shouting matches. If you treat work like a transportation problem, you realize there are actually Three Flows you need to worry about. And right now, all three of them are permanent red lines in your google map to the future.There is one key driving idea here. If things are in your way, go around them or get them out of the way. That’s it. Flows for better flow1. The Road (Operational Flow)* Appreciate: This is the way you work. The road is the physics of your company. The highway. The rules of the road.* Accept: Everyone thinks the road is an Autobahn. In reality, the road is filled with potholes, road blocks, and toll booths.* Acknowledge: Every time you hit a pothole (a missing tool), a roadblock (an approval queue), or a toll booth (a “quick sync”), you stop moving. You can’t drive 100mph on a road that is actively trying to kill you.* Attention: Stop blaming the other drivers for swerving into your lane. Fix the pavement. A process that doesn’t help the car move forward is debris. Clear it.2. The Car (Workflow)* Appreciate: This is the actual value. The project, report, code, sold house, plate of food…the thing you are trying to deliver.* Accept: You aren’t driving one car. You are trying to drive a fleet. You have the “Project A” sedan, the “Q3 Report” truck, and the “Favor for Dave” scooter. You are trying to drive five vehicles at the same time.* Acknowledge: A parked car delivers zero value. When you switch cars every 15 minutes, all of them are parked 90% of the time. And you have to run from car to car. You feel busy, but you aren’t moving. You’re just wasting energy.* Attention: Focus! Pick a car. Drive it to the destination. Get out. Go back. Drive the next one. 3. The Driver (Psychological Flow)* Appreciate: This is you. The creative engine. The poor soul behind the wheel.* Accept: You want to be a Formula 1 driver, but you’re stuck in a clown car, in a hockey rink, surrounded by … you get the idea. You can’t find “creative bliss” when you have to slam on the brakes every 45 seconds to answer a Slack message.* Acknowledge: You burn out. You get road rage. You start looking at Facebook marketplace for bobbleheads.* Attention: You cannot “will” yourself into flow if the road is broken. You have to protect the driver.“Practicing your craft in expert fashion is noble, honorable, and satisfying. And I’ll generally take a stand-up mercenary who takes pride in his professionalism over an artist any day.”~Also, Anthony BourdainThe Done ColumnWhy does this matter? Why fix the road? Why stop driving five cars at once? We have a choice. When we finally unjam the sewage from the pipes, work stops being a traffic jam and starts being a jam session. How’s that for a mixed metaphor? As Anthony Bourdain said, ‘Practicing your craft in expert fashion is noble, honorable, and satisfying.’ That’s the feeling we’re chasing. Not magic. Just the noble satisfaction of a machine running exactly the way it’s supposed to.That’s humane work and it is the only way any company can be reliably profitable and innovate.What You Can Do Next:* Join us for the Personal Kanban workshop. We’ll go deep on your actual limits, help build visuals that work for you personally, and create boundaries that work. Spend some time with us:Deep Dive See Your Work-shop* Read the full Personal Kanban book to understand the humanity behind the practice.* Read the Collaboration Equation to learn more about this type of leadership.* Take the Personal Kanban class on Modus Institute* Work with Jim and Toni for personalized guidance implementing visibility in your specific situation.Like and subscribe and all that stuff. But … really, everyone is running way above capacity and it’s hurting us all. So, please … opt out of that pain. This is a public episode. 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