JazzFlow—Analyzing “Group Flow” Among Jazz Musicians Through “Honest Signals”

Abstract

In this project we aim to analyze “honest signals” between Jazz musicians by using sociometric badges with the goal of identifying structural properties of self-organizing creative teams. In particular, we are interested in the pre-requisites for “flow,” the state of work where “time flies,” and workers are at their most-productive best. We extend the concept of individual “flow” as defined by Csikszentmihalyi (Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. Harper Row, New York, 1990) to the group level (Sawyer in Group creativity: music, theater, collaboration. Psychology Press, Oxford, 2003; Group genius: the creative power of collaboration. Basic Books, New York, 2007), trying to identify some of the conditions indicative of the group flow state. We speculate that a band of Jazz musicians is particularly well suited to study group flow, because they are an archetype of a self-organizing creative team, involved in highly creatively work while passing leadership of the tune for the solo part from one band member to the next.