Flow in the public service : conciliating challenges and abilities from a realistic point of view

Abstract

This article aims at demonstrating that life quality at work and the ability to achieve the Flow, or Optimal Experience, is related, among other aspects, to the abilities of harmonizing the challenges of the task with individual skills; perceiving the aridest aspects of the organizational environment in a realistic way; and facing personal limitations in a constructive manner. For this purpose, a survey was carried out with a sample of State civil servants, to whom the adhesion to a Voluntary Dismissal Program was offered. The data obtained was submitted to the Contents Analysis, as proposed by Bardin (1997). The Flow concept comes from the work of Mihay Csikszentmihalyi (1197, 1996, 1992, 1991). The results showed that a group of people who did not adhere to the Voluntary Dismissal Program demonstrated a remarkable ability to avoid stress and obtain satisfaction at work, despite the bureaucratic and mechanistic structure of the organization where they work. On the other hand, a group who chose to join the Program made an inaccurate self -evaluation and ended up accepting challenges that were not compatible with their skills and talents, with disastrous consequences for their personal and professional lives. The results confirm Csikszentmihalyi’s theoretical assumptions and suggest the necessity of reformulating the pressupositions of the Voluntary Dismissal Programs carried out in the State up to this moment.