The kerfuffle over Obama and the Oath II (the remake) is  useful reminder of the significance of flow in the workplace. Don't tell me that Obama didn't know the oath off by heart. But faced with over a billion people watching and led by the Chief Justice with the wrong words - Obama went with the flow while trying to signal that something was wrong. Because he had little choice - if he said the right words he would have created confusion - he would have refused the oath he was being given - he would have in effect taken over - and if he stayed silent waiting for a recovery - the flow would be broken - it would be as if he refused the oath offered - not good. So he took the oath he was given.

 And the following day he did it again - different venue without a bible to place his hand on. And apparently this second oath was a success. Why? Because the right oath was given and taken, the flow restored.

It is little short of extraordinary that so little attention in the workplace is given to flow. When it matters more than anything. You might imagine from contact reports and briefs that what matters is content, what idea won the day and who has agreed to do what when. When these documents are records of meetings which might have taken minutes, hours and days - caused wars to break out or enabled jumps into new territories. When you focus on the flow you are listening deeply to what others are saying - you are responding and shaping what is said not just imposing and repeating your own view. And attention to the flow makes meetings work better and faster.  This isn't about securing consensus quickly. Sometimes deep issues need to be resolved and this takes time.  But it is often the case that meetings lack flow - that there are lots of chopping and changing, and interpersonal disputes that have little or nothing to do with the issues at hand.  

 I am in the process of reading Rob Poynton's book Everything's an Offer - his workshop techniques are drawn from improvisational theatre and applied to business practice - he talks a lot about flow - which is why  it was top of mind when I watched Justice Roberts and Barack Obama stumble and try to get the rhythm back.

 The action point is to watch the flow - and stay with it - it is a lot better than the alternatives - yes the oath had to be taken again but the alternatives were less palatable. Listen hard and when you spot people disrupting or breaking the flow then pay particular attention to restoring it. If they repeatedly  block the flow then you may need to confront them. When I have run workshops sometimess I have been briefed as a facilitator to stop or limit disruption. Once I used yellow and red cards like a football referee to head off an agency who was expected to disrupt a workshop - which enabled me to keep the flow.  I doubt you will ever have to resort to anything that dramatic. But just being more aware of the flow should allow you to run better meetings and to get meetings back on track.