Flow

Being "in the flow". The nicest state of mind known to mankind. You act without thinking, and everyone of your actions is the perfect response to the situation. Riding a motorcycle on a beautiful road without a destination can easily get you into this state. With an empty mind, you see the next 2 corners, feel your bike as your brakes hit the disc, smell the forest, and hear the wind as you start accelerating out of the first corner while naturally placing the bike into position for the next.

In order to get into the flow, conditions need to be perfect. You have to be in the right mood. There should be no distractions. There needs to be rythm.

Coding and biking is done by "enjoy the ride" people. They enjoy the thrill of that perfect corner, or that perfect try/catch block, without worrying to much about the destination. Destination is usually the worry of the "a-to-b" people. These are to people that need to get to their destination. Usually car drivers, they will talk about destinations, the bluetooth and stereo in their cars, but rarely enjoy the ride itself. When they get to "B", a new destination is chosen and the race is on again.

"A-to-b" people often don't understand "flow" or "being in the zone". They also don't understand that it's hard to get "in the flow" and very easy to get out. Changing the end goal of a long project is not all that troublesome. But changing the next 2 corners will get your "enjoy the ride" team members out of the flow for sure. Do it too often, and your team will not even try to get into the flow, because there is nothing more frustrating than being yanked out of your flow.

Programming seems dull and nerdy. But being "in the zone" or having "flow" can give you quite a rush, with some similarities to riding a bike on a sunny, twisty mountain road.